The Little Blonde Salvatore
by Lionheart543
Summary: AU/AH. The Salvatore's and Mikaelson's are rival Mafia families. Caroline has lived a sheltered life protected from the dangerous world her family live in, until one weekend in New York with her best friend changes her whole life. For better or for worse.
1. Chapter 1

**Hiya! This came to me at like three in the morning and I just had to write it!**

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"Come on Elena you know it's not that simple!" said Caroline pacing around her room.

"Yes Care, it is! What isn't simple about going to New York for a short weekend?" her friend replied sounding optimistic.

"Oh I don't know; the fact that my crazy over protective family will never let me leave! Or the fact that I would never be able to just sneak out because I have to have at least three guards with me at once!"

Caroline was getting frustrated. Her friend knew that her family would never agree to this. Caroline Salvatore came from the most dangerous mafia family in the country, her father would never let her go anywhere outside of Miami without one of her brothers or half a dozen guards.

"Come on Care! I'm sure you can convince them to let you go by yourself!" Elena said practically begging down the phone. Elena didn't have the same life as Caroline. Though the Petrova's were feared, they weren't as dangerous as the Salvatore's. Elena had been allowed to do pretty much whatever she wanted from an early age. As long as she wasn't as bad as Katherine her parents couldn't care less what she did.

Caroline felt bad for Elena sometimes. All though her family, her brothers in particular, were over protective she knew that they loved her. She could never really tell whether Elena's parents loved her as they spent too much time worrying about Katherine.

"No way Elena they'll never let me go! Simple as that!" Caroline sat down on her bed wrapping her fingers round her long blonde hair like she had done since she was a child when she was thinking.

"They won't let me go alone," Caroline said getting an idea, "but they might let me go if either Damon or Stefan came!" Caroline was getting excited. Bill Salavatore trusted Stefan and Damon with his life; he would surely let her go if one or both of them came.

"No." said Elena instantly. That one word brought Caroline down from cloud 9. How could she forget? Stefan and Elena had dated a couple of months back and Stefan had just recently broken things of with her. Elena had been a wreck for days afterwards refusing to get out of bed and only coming out with the promise of cocktails and lying on the beach.

"Ok I understand Stefan but what about Damon?" Caroline winced at the thought. All though she loved her elder brother she really didn't want to watch him seduce some poor girl into his bed just to leave her the next day. Damon had done that before with so many girls.

Once he nearly started a full out war between the Salvatore's and Mikaelson's after sleeping with Rebekah Mikaelson and then leaving her. The only reason it hadn't happened was because he mother Elizabeth was able to convince Bill to pay them off.

"No offense Care, but I don't like Damon." Said her friend through the phone. Caroline laughed and said,

"Me neither. But since neither of my brothers are allowed to come and I don't want to walk around New York with guards, I can't go."

"What about if we say you're coming to sleep over at my place when in reality you're sneaking of on a private plane to NYC?" Caroline paused at the idea.

It could work, if she played her cards right she could be in New York in a couple of days. Caroline had always imagined seeing the city by her self. She was 24 years old and yet to leave Miami. She had been to Disney as a kid, but that didn't really count since her father had had it shut for the day so that she wouldn't have to wait in line.

Caroline didn't mind not waiting in line but just for once she wanted to be at the back of the line instead of jumping straight in front of everyone else. She wanted to be normal, just for once.

Caroline had always she would be normal when she went to college like Stefan and Damon had. She was clever and had been admitted into Harvard and Yale but her father wanted to keep her close, so she ended up going to a local college and still living at home.

When she had confronted him about this, her father had merely said she didn't need to go to a good college because he already had a future planned out for her. Caroline hated that. She hated how every single part of her life was planned out just like her mother's had been.

"We're so going to New York" Caroline said before hanging up the phone in the middle of Elena's excited screaming.

Caroline dropped her phone on her bed and raced downstairs to where her brothers and father were talking in her fathers study. Caroline took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Father may I enter" she asked tentatively.

"Yes! Caroline please enter!" Her father called from inside the room. She pulled the door open and slipped inside.

Her father was a tall man, handsome for his age. His now graying hair used to be raven black like Damon's with piercing blue eyes that all three children had received.

He was sitting behind his desk rummaging over papers in his hand. Her brothers sat before him anger plain on their faces. Something had not gone well this morning but Caroline had learnt by now not to ask questions. The less she knew the better.

"What is it daughter?" Her father said looking down at his desk. Caroline took a deep breath and began using the one trick that had always worked on her father whenever she wanted something. Rambling.

"So, me and Elena want to have a sleep over on Friday night because Katherine's gone missing again and Elena really just wants to talk to someone about it, and as her best friend I obviously said I would. And then there is all her breakup issues and…"

"Stop Caroline you're hurting my head. You can go to Elena's on Friday. And before you ask yes you can stay over Saturday night as well. But remember the gala is on Monday night and I expect you to be there." Caroline couldn't believe her luck.

"Thank you!" She screeched running over to hug him before running out the room as fast as she could. Caroline ran back up to her room and texted Elena.

Get ready for NYC – C

Yay! C ya Friday – E

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Friday came around quickly and Caroline found herself getting more and more nervous every second. What if someone caught them? What would happen then? If she got caught she would never be able to leave the house again until her father either died or married her off to some rich ally of his.

Caroline shivered at the thought of being married off to someone but she knew eventually it would happen and she would be expected to be a good wife, like her mother, while her brothers had all the fun.

At midday Caroline headed downstairs luggage in hand. Her and Elena were expecting to be in New York by about 4 o'clock so they had enough time to get ready, have dinner and go to the nearest bar.

To make everything seem less suspicious they were taking a taxi to a public airport rather than take a private jet. Caroline, who had never been on a plane, was getting overly excited.

Elena couldn't stop laughing and said that Caroline 'was acting like a little kid at Christmas!' Caroline could only shrug. Elena had been all around the country and went to Bulgaria every Christmas to visit her grandparents and distant relatives. All of Caroline's family, that she was allowed to see, lived in Miami so she hardly ever left.

An hour after they arrived the two girls finally got on the plane to New York. It was crowded with people and Caroline was shocked by how rude some of them were. Even Elena was surprised. One man had decided to grab Elena's ass and Elena spent a good five minutes yelling at him for it.

When they finally sat down a small petite woman was grinning at them. The woman had deep chestnut eyes and dark brown curls that framed her face. The girl went pink when she realized they were looking at her expectantly.

"I Bonnie" Bonnie said extending a hand. "And can I just say well done for putting that guy in his place."

Caroline just grinned as Elena took Bonnie's hand. "Thanks! I'm Emily and this is my friend Charlotte." Caroline raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything.

Why Elena would lie about her name was beyond her so she just smile and shook Bonnie's hand.

"So" said Elena "Are you from Miami or…"

"I'm from New York. I was just visiting my boyfriend who lives here, you?"

"We're both from Miami" Elena said "The two of us decided that it was time we visited New York for the first time."

"The two of us? El -Emily you practically dragged me onto the plane with you! You wouldn't have let me say no even if I wanted too!"

"That's true." Said Elena matter-of-factly. The three burst out in to giggles and spent the rest of the trip getting to know each other.

Caroline felt bad since neither her nor Elena were being truthful. Bonnie seemed nice but she was gullible and easy to trust; two things that Caroline and Elena weren't.

Before Caroline knew it they were in New York. Elena had asked Bonnie if she wanted to go out with Caroline and Elena tonight and the brunette had happily said goodbye to Bonnie at the airport arranging to meet her at ABC kitchen at 8 o'clock.

They checked into their room which turned out to be a massive suite. It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a dining room and a kitchen.

"God Elena" Caroline said shocked "we're only here for two nights!"

"So? We weren't coming all this way to sleep in some rotten motel!"

"Whatever you say 'Emily'" Caroline grinned as Elena threw a pillow at her face "Ow! How did you make a pillow hurt?"

"I grew up with Katherine" Elena shrugged.

Caroline decided to get changed into a gorgeous deep blue dress that she wouldn't have been allowed to wear back in Miami. It was gorgeous and revealed most of her leg. Stefan and Damon would have probably had a heart attack seeing her in this. She pulled out a pair of heels to match before she did her makeup.

Elena had thought among the same lines as Caroline except her dress was black instead of blue. She looked more like Katherine than ever. If one of them didn't hook up tonight she doubted anyone on the whole island would.

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**Should I continue? Please review and tell me what you think :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Can I just say thank you for the amazing support the story has gotten so far. 29 followers in only a chapter that was less than 2,000 words! Amazing I love you all. **

**Why did it take me so long to update you ask? I've been really busy lately with my other story, but currently have writers block so I wrote this last night instead! ****  
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**Hope you like it. It's kind of a filler chapter but contains key information about the story.**

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It was cold, standing outside waiting for a cab. Elena and Caroline had been waiting for five minutes but every time a cab stopped in front of them someone would push them out of the way and claim they were there first. Caroline had to keep reminding her self that she wanted to be normal, and normal people took cabs not limos.

Elena was getting colder by the second making her increasingly angry. So when a cab came again, she ran straight towards it a high speed before anyone could get in it. Caroline was impressed at her pace. Elena was wearing 6-inch heels yet she managed to run as fast as she would have in trainers without falling over.

"Where ya going" a gruff voice said as Caroline clambered through the cab door, slamming it behind her.

"ABC Kitchen." Elena replied simply inspecting her recently painted nails before she turned towards Caroline who was grinning.

"I'm in a cab!" Caroline said over-excitedly giggling.

"Yes Caroline." Said Elena matter-of-factly "Your in a cab. Like you were when we came from the airport."

"Yeah but this is a real yellow cab!" Elena rolled her eyes and turned towards the window. Caroline smiled and did the same.

Everything in New York was so bright. It was true when they said the city never sleeps. There were hundreds of people going about their everyday life, not a care in the world. They weren't worrying about threats or land. They just went about their lives oblivious to the real horrors of the world.

"I've always wanted to come here." Elena said suddenly, snapping the blonde out of her thoughts. Caroline stared at her confused. "I always thought I'd come here with Katherine. We'd visit all the tourist traps during the day and then we'd go clubbing all night. I'd reconnect with her and we'd become the type of sisters you see on TV; the one's that care about one another."

"Elena" Caroline said taking her friends hand and squeezing hard. "What happened to Katherine?" Caroline had always been too afraid to ask Elena about her sister. It was a sensitive subject for the Petrova's these days. Katherine seemed to be here one day and gone the next.

Elena took a deep breath before saying "We don't know. She just seemed to disappear into thin air. I mean, she's ran away before but she was always in the tabloids so we always knew where she was. But now, now there's no trace of her. She's just gone. I have some kind of gut instinct that something's gone wrong and she's dead or injured and I hate that I can't help her. It kills me."

Caroline pulled Elena into a tight hug, practically feeling her pain. Even though Elena and Katherine didn't seem close, Caroline knew Elena loved Katherine more then anyone in the world. Katherine and Elena had been close when they were little and Elena still held on to those times she had with her sister. Every time Katherine ran away, Elena would get depressed and Caroline was the only one that could pull her out of her misery for a short while by going shopping or doing anything to take her mind off Katherine.

"I'm sure she's okay. I mean it's Katherine! Your sister can take care of her self. She's probably on some private island with a bunch of hot guys kissing the ground she walks on."

Elena smiled at the thought but she knew as much as Caroline did that this time was different then before. Katherine wasn't just missing. She was gone.

"Anyway enough about my family problems, we're here to have fun and meet cute guys! Just remember I'm Emily and you're Charlotte."

Caroline frowned at the thought of lying to Bonnie about who they were.

"Why did we have to change our names? I mean how likely would it be for them to track us down by our name? I'm not allowed to leave the city and Elena is quite a common name." Caroline said playing with her hair. She had curled it making it springy and light.

"You'd be surprised. Names are everything do you not remember school? I had to call myself Elena Sommers to make sure no one recognized me." Caroline did remember. She was Caroline Forbes the girl with only a couple of friends because she wasn't allowed to do any after school clubs or hang out after school.

"Also you should never reveal your true identity otherwise it can hurt you and anyone you meet, at least that's what Katherine…" Elena trailed off at the mention of her sister.

Caroline would have never thought of that. Living the sheltered life that she had, Caroline had never had the need to learn these things. Although her father had tried to keep her safe, he had probably done more bad then good.

The two friends continued the rest of the journey in silence retaking their positions staring out the window into the streets of Manhattan.

The car came to a halt sending both girls forward into the seats in front. The man at the front stuck his hand through the gap and Caroline realized they had arrived. Elena pulled out her Louis Vuitton purse, paying the cab driver before climbing out the door, pulling Caroline along behind her.

When the two emerged from the cab they found themselves in front of a large restaurant with dozens of people inside.

"Please tell me you made a reservation." Caroline whispered. Elena chuckled and nodded her head looking around for Bonnie.

Bonnie was standing by herself just to the side of the restaurant. She had her phone out and was texting someone intently. Caroline and Elena walked towards her as she looked up smiling at them.

Bonnie was wearing a lace burgundy dress that showed her figure perfectly. Caroline recognized the dress as a brand new and designer. Her shoes were black stilettos, which Caroline knew she had in her wardrobe in Miami.

*Flash back*

"So Bonnie what do you do in New York?" Caroline asked curiously. They had about an hour to go on the plane and she was beginning to get restless. Bonnie looked kind of nervous, her cheeks went bright red and she looked down at her feet.

"I'm currently doing a masters in Occult History at NYU. I want to teach the subject when I finish."

"Are you living in Manhattan or…" Elena said innocently.

"No I'm from Brooklyn." Bonnie answered honestly.

*End Flash back*

The dress was far too expensive for a collage student to own, let alone one from Brooklyn. Though Bonnie was the only person she had ever met from Brooklyn, Caroline had seen Gossip Girl and she knew that people from Brooklyn could probably not afford designer dresses. Or at least Jenny Humphrey couldn't.

Caroline looked at Bonnie suspiciously but then decides to act natural. Caroline glanced over at Elena who had Bonnie in a tight embrace. The brunette seemed oblivious to the fact that Bonnie's dress was extremely expensive but Caroline put it down to the fact that Elena was probably still worrying about Katherine.

Bonnie moved towards Caroline and pulled her in for a hug. Caroline hugged her back, checking the label on the back. Oh yeah, definitely designer. Bonnie pulled back grinning like the Cheshire cat and Caroline returned a small smile not wanting to offend Bonnie before she knew what she was dealing with.

"Shall we go inside?" Bonnie said cheerfully motioning towards the restaurant. Caroline and Elena nodded.

"Thank god!" said Bonnie walking ahead of the blonde and brunette. "I'm so hungry, I could eat my dog! And my dog is 11 years old and covered in warts!"

At this Caroline's head perked up. She had always loved dogs but Damon being Damon had to ruin that for her by being extremely allergic.

"What type of dog do you have?" Caroline asked, generally interested. Bonnie turned around to face her grinning and said.

"I have a Labrador. He's called Jeremy and I love him so much. I don't know what I'd do with out him." Bonnie looked happy for a moment before sighing. "And technically he's mine. He's my boyfriends so I had to leave him back in Miami."

At this Elena, who hadn't been paying close attention, suddenly looked interested. The three girls were being escorted towards a table on the far side of the restaurant.

The restaurant seemed fuller on the inside than it had on the outside. Ordinary people of all ethnicities and races were gathered in the space, talking and minding their own business. Caroline and Elena were slightly stunned by the noise level; it was louder than they were used to and Caroline found her self-eavesdropping on conversations. Apparently someone named Joan had been cheated on and Kevin was recently fired from his job as a lawyer.

"How is your boyfriend in Miami?" Elena said ordering herself, Caroline and Bonnie a martini each. Bonnie grew nervous at the question. Whenever Elena or Caroline asked her anything about her life she grew quiet and went bright red.

"He's fine" Bonnie said in a high-pitched tone. "He left for a business call two days ago but he's coming to see me on Sunday before w...he goes back to Miami." Elena nodded and looked at Caroline with a look that said 'did you hear that?' Caroline nodded slightly and turned back to face Bonnie who had her phone in her hands and was once again texting.

Suddenly Bonnie put her phone down turning it on silent. She took a large glug of the martini before turning towards the two friends.

"Enough about me!" Bonnie said resting her head on her hands. "I want to talk about you! Where in Miami do you live?" Caroline gulped looking at Elena anxiously. Caroline was about to answer with a lie when Elena beat her to it.

"We live in an apartment over looking the beach." Caroline leant back in her chair, slightly impressed by Elena's quick thinking.

"Really? That must be expensive." Said Bonnie looking at the menu curiously. "I didn't realize you had that much money."

"We don't." said Elena a bit too fast. "When my great grandmother from Bulgaria died, she left me a load of money so I could buy the apartment." This wasn't a lie but Caroline doubted that Bonnie would guess that Elena had been left 12.4 million dollars.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry for your loss." Bonnie said solemnly taking Elena's hand and squeezing.

"It's okay, I mean she passed away before I was even born and left the money for me to receive on my 21st birthday." Elena said with a shrug. Bonnie nodded sympatheticly before the waiter came over to take their order.

Caroline was becoming more and more suspicious of Bonnie as the night went on. She was always looking around, seeminly searching for someone in the crowd of people. Bonnie had switched to diet coke after the first cocktail while Caroline and Elena were on their third martini when Bonnie said she needed to use the bathroom.

"Do you think their's something going on with Bonnie?" Caroline asked Elena taking another sip of her martini. Over the years Caroline had built up a strong defense against alcohol and was no where near drunk.

"Yeah, I mean she seems fine but that boyfriend of hers worries me. I wonder who he is? I bet we know him!" Elena replied seriously. Caroline just nodded her head and took another sip. Everybody knew that the real money in Miami came from the Mafia, not from the high-tech business that Bonnie described when they asked about her boyfriend. Everytime Caroline or Elena asked about Bonnie's boyfriend she would reply 'you won't know him he's just moved to Miami from here.' Or 'let's stop talking about me, let's talk about you.'

"Too be fare I can't think of anyone who recently moved to Miami" Caroline said, going over every one of her father's aquatiances she'd ever met or heard him talk about. "Which means either he's really new or she's lying."

Elena shook her head looking down at her now empty plate which ten minutes ago had been full with chicken wings and spare ribs. "I don't think she would lie. She seems too nice to be capable of lying directly to someone's face." Elena was always trying to see the good in people, she even tried to befriend Rebekah Mikaelson who turned out to have won worlds biggest bitch in the space of a three minute conversation.

"What and I'm not nice?" Caroline pouted and held her chest faking to be in pain. Elena scowled at the blonde, before saying.

"You know what I mean! She didn't grow up in the same world as us! She didn't learn how to lie as soon as she could talk! She's innocent! Her boyfriend probably isn't as rich as she thinks he is and therefore we wouldn't know him, would we?"

Caroline pursed her lips and closed her eyes. Why couldn't Elena see sense? Bonnie had already messed up once or twice tonight making her seem less innocent then Elena believed! Bonnie also seemed vaugley familiar. At the begging of the nigh Caroline hae overlooked it, sure it must have been on the street or something. But as the night drew on Caroline was becoming surer and surer. No! She may think Bonnie was up to something but she didn't recognize her! She'd only seen her on the street not at an event Caroline told her self repeatedly.

"If you say so 'Lena but I still think she's hiding something!" Caroline said as she saw Bonnie's slim figure moving back towards them.

"Me too Care, Me too." Elena said as Bonnie sat down draining the rest of her coke.

"So I just payed for dinner and the guy at the till, who was totally hitting on me, told me that there was a great club down the street." Bonnie said excitedly. "We should go it'll be fun!"

"You didn't need to pay for dinner." Elena said shooting Caroline a look that said 'be nice'. Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry about it, I was happy to! But I do think we should go to this club. I mean we're certainly dressed appropriately!" Caroline laughed. 'Damn her!'Caroline thought. 'Why is she so nice? Why can't she just be horrible! If she was horrible I could hate her but she's not so I can't!'

"I think it's a great idea!" Caroline said surprising herself. She had come to New York to have fun and not constantly worry about what was behind her. Caroline wanted her self and Elena to have the times of their lives!

"Yay!" Bonnie squeled getting a few angry looks from strangers, who she scowled at. The three girls proceeded to head outside again where they were hit with a blast of cold air from the New York City breeze. "Not quite Miami" Elena muttered under her breath just loud enough for Caroline to hear. The blonde laughed and elbowed her friend in the ribcage, giggiling.

They walked for a couple of minutes in a comftable silence, taking in the sights and smells around them. Yellow cabs were everywhere, like before, and tourists rushed around, like before, trying to get to their reservations in time even though it was nearly 11. Caroline guessed it didn't matter what time you ate in the city that never slept.

The three girls arrived infront of a dark run-down looking building. It's windows were broken and it had graffiti all over the walls. One name was plastered everywhere which Caroline took to be the name of the place; Mystic Falls.

Caroline was doubtfull at first that they were in the right place but as she looked around she saw a huge line of people snaking around the side of the building. She grinned and started walking towards the bouncer, pulling Elena and Bonnie along with her. Bonnie stared open mouthed as Caroline went up to the bouncer battered her eye lashes, giggled like a schoolgirl and flicked her hair before the man let her, Elena and Bonnie through. Caroline smiled at the man and proceeded into the club.

"How did you do that?" Bonnie asked in a transe like state. Caroline shrugged and said.

"How else were we going to get in? Waiting at the back of the line? You just need to learn to give a man exactly what he wants."Caroline said as they walked down the stairs leading into the dance club. Bonnie shook her head with a knowing smile and trailed behind the two other girls.

Caroline and Elena stopped dead as they walked through the doors into the club. It building seemed to be alive with the sound of music drumming off the wall. All suspicions Caroline had about Bonnie and her boyfriend seemed to dissapeare into nothingness. The club was filled with hundreds of people enjoying themselves and having a great time. It was so different from anything that Caroline or Elena had ever seen before and the two girls were drawn to it like moths to a flame.

The three girls moved over to the bar and decided to order a round of shots to start the night off. Once they'd had those they had another round and another. Caroline finally decided it was time to move so the group of newly found friends went over to one of the small tables in the corner of the room. Many boys and sometimes middle aged men kept coming over to them asking to dance which they accepted. When Caroline asked Bonnie about her boyfriend, her new drunk friend replied "Screw my boyfriend! What he doesn't know won't hurt him!"

After hours of drinking and dancing the three girls were sprawn all over each other and in fits of giggiling. Caroline couldn't even remember why she was even suspicious about Bonnie. She was cool and knew how to party her ass off!

Bonnie sat up straight gazing over towards the bar and nodding her head at someone sitting there. Caroline was to drunk to notice and was currently braiding Elena's hair.

"Charlotte that guy over there is totally checking you out!" Bonnie said turning towards Caroline. Caroline payed her no attention forgetting that _she _was Charlotte. "Charlotte? Charlotte hello I'm talking to you!" Bonnie laughed as she playfully punched Caroline's arm.

"Huh what?" Caroline said looking up at the caramel skinned girl.

"That guy by the bar. He's checking you out! You should go over there!" Bonnie gave Caroline a slight shove almost knocking her to the ground. Caroline looked over at the man and found herself pleasantly surprised. He was tall with sandy blond hair and blue-green eyes that were staring straight at her. He wore black jeans and a Henley's top that showed off his abs. Caroline found herself undressing him in her mind, imagining what he looked like without his chlothes on.

"Yeah Ca-Charlotte you should go over there!" said Elena sitting up and handing Caroline a shot. "But drink this first." Elena ordered, kissing Caroline's cheek and lying back down on the large seat.

Caroline took the shot and with a deep breath drank it's entire content before standing up, wobbling slightly, and heading over towards the hot man at the bar.

"Hey" she said seductively as she approached him. He smirked at her making her heart race faster than ever before. If Caroline were sober she wouldn't have come anywhere near the man but drunk she felt extremely attracted to the man.

"Hello love" he said smiling and when he did so, showing his dimples. Caroline flushed bright red before ordering a vodka tonic. Before Caroline could even smell her drink the sandy haired hot man took it away from her frowning. "I think you've had enough to drink for one night, love, why not give it a break?"

Caroline scoffed "Who fo you think you are? My father?" she said leaning towards him. The man smirked and said.

"No but I've been watching you ever since you came in and enough is enough." The man was cockey and arrogant, and Caroline was starting to think that coming over here was a bad idea.

"Stalker much." Caroline said flicking her hair and walking away from him. Well almost walking away from him. He grabbed her wrist firmly and pulled her back towards him, spinning her in the process.

"Go on a date with me. Tommorow night." The man said staring at her intently. Caroline felt a lump form in the back of her throat before she pulled and took a step back.

"No! You're delusional if you think I would go on a date with a stranger!" Caroline tok a couple steps back, not dropping her gaze. The man raised one eyebrow.

"Come on, love. I dare you." He said moving towards her again. God this guy knew nothing about personal space!

"I don't even know your name!" Caroline protested. She knew she was this close to giving in to him, doing exactly what he wanted.

"It's Nathan. Nathan Morgan." Nathan said. "And you? What's your name, love?"

"Charlotte. Charlotte Smith." Caroline said before she walked away from him with a huff.

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**What did you think? I think everyone knows (or should know) who Nathan is. Now, I need to know what you guys think. Beremy or Kennet? It's seriously important because they're two ways this story can go depending on what you guys think.**

**This is my longest update yet! Currently at 3,824 words! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh my god I'm so sorry! Believe it or not I started writing this well before Christmas but I only finished tonight. This is basically the morning after and I found it really ****difficult to write so I'm sorry if it's not up to scratch. It contains so much dialogue and I'm better at description than dialogue. Anyway... I hope you enjoy!**

**P.S Thank you to everyone who review about whether I should include Beremy or Kennet. Kennet obviously won because Kol and Bonnie are amazing together...**

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Caroline woke up the next day with a killer headache. Looking around the room she saw that she had passed out on the sofa, with Elena who was lying across her lap. Her friend's mouth was open and the brunette was snoring heavily. It took every bit of will power that Caroline had not to laugh at her friend or grab her phone and take a photo. Looking down Caroline saw that she and Elena were both still in last night's dresses and, if she looked the same as Elena, both still wearing a full face of makeup.

As Caroline took a closer look at her surroundings she noticed what a mess the room was. There were champagne glasses knocked over on the coffee table and bits of broken glass on the floor. A lamp had been knocked over and smashed, while cushions were scattered around the room. The chair opposite her was covered in feathers and there seemed to be some sort of red wine stain on the carpet.

"What a mess." Caroline mumbles, spreading her arms out. "We're going to have to get someone to come and clean this." Her arm knocks Elena in the head making the brunette spring to life in a state of panic.

"Wha-What's going on? Has something happened?" Elena asked going pale. "Has your dad found us? Is it Katherine? Did she come home?" Caroline felt guilty waking Elena up even if it wasn't on purpose. She sheepishly said.

"No um I accidently hit you over the head when I was stretching." Elena stopped panicking and turned to look at her friend.

"So you woke me up at the crack of dawn because you were stretching?" Elena asked placing a hand on her hip. 'God she looks like Katherine' Caroline couldn't help thinking. When they were little, Katherine was constantly scolding them for getting into trouble. It was strange to think that she wasn't around anymore to tell them off. Elena's older sister was probably doing things one hundred times worse than running away to New York for the weekend.

"Hey it was an accident!" Caroline said grinning mischievously. "And it's not the crack of dawn it's…. three o'clock in the afternoon!" She said grabbing her phone from the coffee table.

"Shit! Oh Shit! That means we only have like a day left in New York! There's no time we have stuff to do! We have to go shopping and see all the tourist attractions! And we still have to get ready to go out tonight and my head is killing and-"

Elena was cut off from her panicking when Caroline pulled her back down onto the sofa. Elena always tried to cramp as much as she could into a couple of days and this trip was no exception. There was no way on earth they would be able to fit all those things into one day.

"Elena chill out. It would be mission impossible to do everything you just listed in one day without a hangover. With a hangover it's more like running a marathon in 8 inch heels without falling flat on your face in the first 2 minutes and you and I both know how that ended last time." When they were fifteen years old, they had been dared by one of the girls in school to run a marathon in heels without falling over and had both failed miserably. Elena laughed at Caroline's comment but the blonde could see the tears threating to fall from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Care. I just I wanted you to have the best time ever since you don't leave Miami very often and if you do you're guarded like the crown jewels of England." Caroline laughed at Elena as she dried the tears from her friend's eyes. Elena wasn't to far off in saying that Caroline was guarded like the crown jewels but that was in Miami. Her father had never let her leave before. He still hadn't.

"Elena, I swear to you that I am having the time of my life! Nothing I have ever done is better than what I'm doing right now!" Elena's eyes seemed to brighten.

"Really?" she said, hopefully.

"Really. But as much as I would love to go out sightseeing, I am way to hung over. Why don't we just stay in the room, rent a couple movies, drink lemonade and only lemonade! I never want to get drunk again!" Caroline laughed. She could see Elena was disappointed about not going out and drinking but it was necessary if they wanted to catch their lunch-time flight home the next day and go shopping in the morning.

"I guess you're right Care." Elena said, pulling Caroline into another hug. Caroline hugged her back squeezing her tight before releasing her.

"Ok, I'm going to call reception to see if they can tidy this mess up. Why don't you get in the shower and pick out some movies. I'm really craving a musical so see if you can find one." Caroline said standing up, pulling her best friend up as well. Elena nodded and walked towards the bathroom door, closing it softly behind her.

Caroline sighed. She didn't really want to stay in tonight either which made convincing Elena that much harder. Caroline stood up and started slowly moving towards where the phone was connected to the wall.

Caroline wondered what Nathan was doing right now. After she had blown him off last night, she had felt really guilty and debated going back over to the bar to accept his offer. By the time she had made up her mind, Nathan had vanished and no one knew where he went. Caroline didn't bother searching for him, she was far to drunk last night, and now she was regretting it.

She should have accepted his offer. Wasn't coming to New York her chance to do something crazy without her father or brothers getting in the way? Wasn't this her last shot at freedom? But no, she had backed out at the last moment instead of giving in to him.

After trying repeatedly to call reception, Caroline found out that the phone had been disconnected. Frustrated she slammed the phone back into its holder and stomped towards the bathroom where she can hear the lyrics of Dancing Queen through the walls.

" 'Lena I'm going down to the lobby, I'll be back in a minute k?" Caroline yelled through the wall. After a moment she heard Elena shout "K!" back before continuing her song.

Caroline turned around and walked back towards the door ready to go out before she caught sight of herself in the huge mirror on the opposite side of the room. Her black dress was creased and had a stain down one side and the dress had been torn slightly on the other. Her makeup was smudged and cheap looking while her hair was a complete and utter mess. She looked like a prostitute.

'Here goes nothing' Caroline thought, slightly bitterly, to herself. Looking down at her feet she realized that she wasn't wearing any shoes. Walking to the elevators she wondered what everyone in the lobby would think of her.

They would probably think she was a dirty slut, though looking on the bright side of things Caroline thought she looked a bit like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

Stepping into the elevator she ignored all the looks she was getting. One woman clutched her daughter to her while one man looked strangely turned on by her appearance. Caroline rolled her eyes at him but apart from that completely ignored the other guests, keeping her chin up.

The lobby was relatively quiet. A couple of businessmen sat in the corner chatting while there were a few families huddled in different areas checking over booking details. One man was standing at reception, yelling at the poor man behind the desk about something, before two security guards came over and dragged him out of the hotel kicking and screaming.

Since everyone was wrapped up in their own little world, no one else seemed to notice Caroline's appearance. And if they did they didn't stop what they were doing and stare, which she was grateful for.

There was a short line at the reception desk and it felt like hours before Caroline reached the front. When she did there was a short fat guy standing opposite her, a knowing smirk on his face. The man was bald and one of the buttons on his vest were at risk of popping open and hitting someone in the eye like they did in comedy films and cartoons.

"Hi" Caroline said, slightly nervous. The man was still smirking at her and it was starting to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Hello miss how can I help you today?" the man asked raising one eyebrow at her. Caroline was starting to get annoyed at the way he acted like he was above her. Like he was more important by her. God, society really did judge you by the way you dressed. This guy didn't know anything about her and yet here he was, judging her on her appearance.

"Yes, my room needs cleaning and the phone's been disconnected." Caroline said coldly staring straight at the idiot behind the desk. The man just stood there staring at her as if she had just said the previous sentence in Japanese.

"Excuse me?" The man said. Caroline rolled her eyes at his stupidity.

"My room. Needs cleaning. Could you be a dear and send someone up there, when your done staring at me like I'm from another planet." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. The man went bright red and started making some calls, never breaking eye contact.

After a while he quietly asked Caroline what room she was staying in. She told him and his eyebrows nearly touched the roof. Apparently he found it strange that not only was she staying in the hotel, she was staying in the gigantic suite on the 24th floor just below the penthouse apartment where one of the richest families in the U.S had a 'temporary' apartment. In all honesty, Caroline wouldn't be surprised if the apartment belonged to her family.

"Look miss, I'm so sorry about how I behaved earlier I…" the guy started before Caroline cut him off.

"Don't worry about it. I'm over it already." She said, before giving him the best fake smile she possibly could. Caroline turned around, flicking her hair slightly, wanting nothing more than to go back up to her room to shower and change out of her god-awful dress, when she collided with a hard muscular chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't…" Caroline said before stopping when she saw emerald eyes staring down at her. She would recognize those eyes anywhere. They were the same pair of eyes that had stared at her for what seemed like hours last night. The same eyes belonged to a man she had turned down last night and had regretted that morning (well afternoon).

"Hello love." Nathan said an annoying smirk plastered on his face. His smirk wasn't very different to the man behind the front desk's smirk. But Nathan's smirk instead of filling her with anger, made her feel all… gooey inside. Caroline hadn't expected to see him here. She tried to form sentences but nothing but a nervous squeak came out of her mouth. She was to shocked to speak.

Caroline had expected Nathan to forget about her after she rejected him and move on to his next target. A guy like him could get any girl he wanted surly he wouldn't waste his time tracking her down when he could probably get someone to sleep with a click of his fingers.

But no, here he was. In the lobby of the hotel she was staying in. On the other side of Manhattan from where the club was.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked after a moment of silence. Nathan pulls her towards him, she shakes him of and steps back creating distance between them. Instead of being put off by this, his smirk only deepens.

"What no hello, love?" Nathan answered cockily raising one eyebrow. Damn him! Caroline had tried for hours back at home but after so much practice she still couldn't raise one eyebrow.

"Don't call me that!" Caroline snapped back crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here on business. My family owns the hotel and I've been using are private suite all week." Nathan said, stepping forward so they were once again centimeters apart.

Caroline's face went bright red when she realized he hadn't been stalking her and she'd just come to that conclusion by herself. Not everyone, she reminded her self, had alternate motives. Just most people she knew.

"Oh, right" Caroline said mentally slapping herself. Could she seriously not come up with anything better than 'Oh, right'? Pathetic. "Is there a reason you're talking to me, or do you just talk to every random stranger you meet?" she said as playfully as she could.

Nathan smirked and said confidently, like he already knew what her answer would be. "I'm here to ask you the same thing I asked you last night; will you go on a date with me? Tonight?"

"Seriously? You're asking me again? Why do you think my answer will be any different now, less than twenty-four hours later?" Caroline said sounding more confident than she really felt.

"You were so close to giving in to me last night. I don't think you'll be able to resist." Nathan said, smugly crossing his arms over his chest, copying her stance.

"I'm to smart to be seduced by you." Caroline said, hoping he'd back off before she did something she'd regret later.

"That's why I like you." Nathan said walking away still facing her. "I'll see you tonight at seven. If you don't come, I'll just keep following you until you get sick of me and give in." And with that he stepped into the elevator, giving her a cocky grin as the automatic doors closed.

Caroline stood in the middle of the lobby for a couple of minutes grinning at the elevator. Despite herself, she was excited about her date tonight. Nathan was everything she had ever wanted growing up, and while she knew it wouldn't lead to anything, she wasn't going to waste her chance at doing something reckless with her last remaining days of freedom.

When Caroline got up to her and Elena's suite she was met with the site of Elena, sitting in only a bathrobe, at the breakfast bar eating cereal. Her friend had always been confident in her body and didn't mind being naked as much as Caroline did. Elena had once told Caroline that she felt more confidant naked than with clothes on.

"Hey Care! I was in the shower when I suddenly realized I had no idea where Bonnie was. Did she come with us last night or did she go home?" Elena asked standing up and putting her bowl outside the room for someone to pick up later when they cleaned the room.

"No," Caroline said scratching her head. "I'm sure she came back with us last night but I was so drunk I'm not entirely certain."

Caroline thought back to Bonnie's strange behavior last night. Something had happened between the plane journey and the restaurant that had made Bonnie act differently around them.

"She was acting so weird at dinner last night." Elena said looking worried for their newfound friend. "I hope she's okay."

"Bonnie's probably fine Elena. I reckon she woke up earlier than us and left. She probably didn't want to disturb us." Caroline said, trying to convince herself rather than Elena. She refused to believe that someone had found out about them on their first day in New York.

"You're probably right." Elena said collapsing onto the sofa with a sigh. "I feel like I should do something, to help her, but I can't think of anything!" This was typical Elena behavior when she was angry or upset. She turned into a freaking martyr.

"Snap out of it 'Lena! You barley know the girl! And if you feel so worried about her why don't you just call her?" Caroline said to her best friend, flopping down next to her on the sofa.

"I think I will." Elena said, giving Caroline a look and picking up her phone from where it lay on the coffee table. "Hmm that's strange." The brunette muttered.

"What is?" Caroline asked leaning over her shoulder to get a better look at Elena's massive phone.

"I haven't got her number. But I remember her giving it me at the club while you were at the bar with that guy." Caroline gulped at the mention of Nathan. She had totally forgotten about their date tonight. She glanced at her watch. It was nearly four o'clock leaving her three hours to get ready.

"Umm about that…I have a date with him. In three hours." Caroline said hoping that Elena wouldn't react to badly.

"What! What do you mean you 'have a date in three hours'! We were supposed to be staying in tonight!" Elena half-screamed, jumping up off the sofa.

"I'm sorry 'Lena but he didn't really give me a choice! He said if I didn't have dinner with him tonight he would keep bothering me until he persuaded me to. I couldn't have him finding out about me!" Caroline said apologetically. She hated that she had to leave Elena by herself, but couldn't help that she was excited to see Nathan again.

"What if he already knows who you are?" Elena whispered, refusing to look Caroline in the eye. The blonde sighed.

"I have considered that as well but I want to believe that this guy asked me out because he genuinely liked me, not because of my father or my name." Caroline had given it a lot of thought. She had been asked to dinner before just because the man wanted something from her family. They would have dinner and Caroline would have a great time, but as soon as they had gotten what they wanted, Caroline never heard from them again.

Deep down, Caroline was hoping it wasn't the same with Nathan. I mean what are the chances that he's involved with the same business her family was?

"I'm just looking out for you Care." Elena said hugging her friend. "But if you are doing this, you have to look good. Elegant and sophisticated not trashy and cheap."

"Hmph." Caroline said pretending to be annoyed. Elena just giggled and shoved her into the bathroom.

* * *

**Yikes! How was it? Good? Bad? The worst thing you've ever read? Absolutely amazing? Please tell me what you think! So next chapter...I'm not sure whether or not to include the date or not. Right now I don't think I will but that could always change. If I decide not to include it in this story I might create a drabble series that runs with the main story. The drabbles will contain things like how Bonnie and Kol met, chapters from other character's P.O.V and anything else people want me to include! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! I have good news...I am officially taking this story of hiatus! Yay! 'What caused this?' I hear you ask. Well, I decided to start watching Romeo + Juliet (the version with Leonardo DiCaprio. Damn, I love him so much...) and I got really inspired to continue writing this story. I knew what I wanted to write but found it hard to actually write it down but after watching the film I was like 'I know exactly what to do now!' **

**So moving on from that...This chapter contains a scene that is defiantly M rated. I have never written a scene like this before so I decide not to write an actual smut scene but it's nearly a smut scene I guess... It's in italics so if you don't want to read it you can just skip ahead it won't really make that much of a difference to the ****story. **

**Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter and I hope you all enjoy Chapter 4 :)**

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Caroline woke up the next day to find Elena towering over her a huge grin plastered on her face. Caroline raised her eyebrows at her friend, confused and slightly scared, as to why she was so happy.

"What are you doing?" Caroline asked but instead of answering her Elena burst out laughing and tumbled back into the armchair in the corner of Caroline's bedroom. The blonde could feel herself getting annoyed at her best friend. Why couldn't she just tell her what's going on rather than laughing at her. "Oh for god's sake just tell me all ready!" Caroline snapped at her. Elena stifled her laughter.

"I'm assuming you had a good date," the brunette said smirking, "because you, my friend, look well and truly fucked." Caroline jumped out of bed before Elena finished the sentence and ran towards the mirror near the door. Elena started laughing again.

Caroline's neck was covered in hickeys, all different colours and sizes. Her hair was wild and untamed and when she turned slightly she could see scratch marks down her back. "Shit" the blonde, swore.

"This is too good to be true!" Elena exclaimed getting up from the chair. Caroline turned to face her friend arms crossed over her chest.

"You could be sympathetic, you know!" Caroline snapped at her but Elena just continued to laugh.

"Oh, no! Do you remember that time in high school when Matt Donovan gave me a hickey and you told Kat who then told my parents ending up in me being grounded for six weeks? Yeah this is payback."

Caroline just shook her head and walked towards the bathroom door. "So what are we doing today?" she asked Elena as she walks into the bathroom.

"I thought we'd go shopping and then head to the airport?" Elena said sitting down at the end of Caroline's bed.

"Perfect." Caroline responds. "Hey, have you heard anything from Bonnie yet?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Bonnie hadn't called or texted either of them in over 24 hours after disappearing into thin air.

"No, I haven't. I'm getting really worried about her." Elena said with a sigh. "Maybe she just didn't like us and decided not to stay in contact."

Caroline shook her head at her best friend. Even though the two of them both came from crime families, Elena still saw the good in everyone and could never believe that someone would try to hurt them.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Caroline said in a sing- song voice. Something wasn't quite right with Bonnie and Caroline was determined to find out what.

"You have a bad feeling about everything." Elena muttered under her breath so quietly that Caroline can only just hear her. "I'm going to go order us some breakfast and then you are going to tell me all about your date last night with oh so dreamy Nathan." With that Elena left Caroline's bedroom and went straight to the phone to order room service.

Caroline stared at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. Last night had been amazing. Perfect even. She touched her mouth with her fingers and sighed contently.

* * *

Flashback

_He pulled her down on the bed and brought her lips to his, claiming her as his own. Caroline responded to the kiss, allowing him full access to her mouth. His tongue shot inside instantly, eager to explore new territory. _

_Nathan pulled away after what felt like a second or eternity, Caroline isn't sure. She groaned at the loss of his mouth on hers. Nathan smirked at her and bent down to kiss her neck sending Caroline into a state of pure bliss. At the same time as sending her to heaven and back with his kisses, Nathan unzips her dress and pulls it down past her ankles leaving her naked in front of him. _

_Caroline felt extremely underdressed and starts to undo the buttons of Nathan's shirt. His mouth doesn't leave her neck the entire time._

_Nathan's lips reclaim hers, forcing her to stop undressing him and focus completely on the kiss. His kisses make her feel beautiful, strong and powerful while still making her feel desperate for him. Caroline can feel a wetness between her legs forming as Nathan pulls back and pulls down his trousers leaving him in just his shirt and boxers. She can see lust in his eyes and she's sure he can see lust in hers. She wants him. She wants him so much it hurts. Nathan clambered back onto the bed, hungrily licking his lips. He slid his boxers down past his ankles allowing his size to burst out._

_Caroline gulps, as she looks him up and down. "It'll never fit. You're to big." To which Nathan just chuckles._

"_Trust me love, it will." And with that he takes her again and again until she's a hot sweaty mess beneath him. _

End Flashback

* * *

Caroline got into the shower and started washing herself as slowly as possible. She's fallen in love with the city that never sleeps and never wants to leave. Plus the slower she goes the more time she'll have to think about her date last night before she has to tell her very persistent best friend everything.

Nathan was perfect last night. He acted like a gentleman and was so much more mature than any other guy she had ever dated. Their conversations were interesting and intellectual. He had travelled so much and had seen so many cities whilst Caroline had never seen anything. He told her in vivid detail about climbing Mt. Kenya and going on long treks through the Amazon rainforest with his brother. He told her about visiting art galleries in Italy and France and about walking through the cobbled streets of Spain. When she had told him she'd never been anywhere before, he had promised to take her without missing a beat.

Caroline laughed and said that would be impossible since her family were protective of her and that she had only just managed to come to New York.

When Nathan had asked her about her family she had had to think of something fast. It wasn't like she could tell him that they were a huge crime family who ran at least half of the Miami underground crime scene. No, that would scare him away and he would never talk to her again. Caroline had told him that she was from a small town in Virginia and that she was an only child. She hated lying to him because even though she knew that they could never have any kind of relationship, she wanted to be truthful with him.

After ten minutes of washing herself repeatedly, Caroline very reluctantly got out of the shower. She walked into her bedroom and pulled out some clothes at random not really paying attention to what was in her hands. Luckily for her, Caroline found herself in a pair of skinny jeans, a tank top and a black blazer.

When she was dressed, Caroline went back into the bathroom and applied makeup to the marks on her neck as well as her face. Caroline couldn't be bothered to curl her hair so after running some product through it plaited it into a simple French braid.

Grabbing a pair of heels she walked into the living room where Elena was currently helping the waiter put all the food she had ordered on the table, Caroline sat down.

As soon as the waiter left the room wishing them a good final day in New York, Caroline dug into her breakfast. There was sausage, bacon, and eggs, baked beans (which Caroline thought was really weird.), French toast, toast, pancakes, waffles and lots of different types of fruits. As well as Coffee and Tea.

Once Caroline had devoured most of the food that Elena had ordered she turned to her best friend who was looking at her expectantly. "Ask away." She sighed, taking another sip of her coffee.

Immediately Elena started asking questions about her date, almost jumping out of her seat. "Where did he take you?"

"To a cute French restaurant in Manhattan." Caroline replied, setting the now empty coffee cup down. She was starting to get the feeling that this would quickly turn into an interrogation.

"And after that?"

"We went on a walk through Central Park. We walked for a bit but then sat down on one of the park benches and just talked for hours. Then one thing led to another and we kissed. Then before I knew it we were having mind blowing- sex.

It was amazing but I don't think I'll be seeing him again."

Elena frowned confused. "Why not?"

"Well I didn't give him my number and he didn't give me his. Plus he wasn't here when I woke up this morning so I don't know. Maybe it wasn't as good for him as it was for me." Caroline shrugged.

"And you're not upset by this?" Elena asked, still confused. Caroline could understand her friend's confusion since Caroline usually got attached to people quicker than most.

"No. I got exactly what I wanted, a one-night stand. It wouldn't have worked even if I wanted it to. We're to different and besides my father probably has some business partner he wants me to marry." Caroline spat the last part out bitterly. It was true, Bill Salvatore probably had some family he wanted to align himself to and Caroline was one of his best bargaining chips to get what he wanted.

Elena suddenly paled. "Care, you did use protection right?" Caroline snorted and looked down at her hands, which were resting in her lap.

"My father made me start taking birth control the minute I turned sixteen just in case I was raped or did something stupid that could result in me getting pregnant. I wouldn't be as useful to him if I had a child before he could marry him off, you see. I wouldn't want to dishonour the family name."

Elena gasped at what Caroline had just told her. Her friend new that Caroline's life was different from her own but she didn't realise how much different. Even though they both came from crime families, Elena had a lot more freedom to do what she wanted then Caroline did. Caroline was expected to stay at home and be the perfect wife while Elena could do whatever she wanted. Though, Caroline was sure that what Elena wanted was to marry her brother and live happily ever after with two kids.

"That's horrible, Care. I'm so sorry." Elena moves over to her friend and hugs her as tight as she can so that Caroline can barely breathe.

"I've mostly gotten over it." Caroline shrugged not really wanting to talk about it at that moment. "I think it time we go shopping." She said getting up, pulling Elena with her. Elena grinned and seemed to have forgotten all about the conversation they had just had.

The two spent the next three and a half hours shopping before going back to the hotel to get their things. Elena grabs a taxi and far to quickly, in Caroline's opinion, they are on a plane back to Miami. Their journey was spent in a comfortable silence, both tired from their trip. Elena fell asleep after a while but Caroline's mind couldn't stop thinking about Nathan.

Where was he right now? Was he thinking about her? And if he was why had he left so early that morning without leaving a note to say goodbye or even his phone number? He had said he was on a business trip; maybe he had a meeting or something and had forgotten. Yeah, that was it. He had obviously been in a rush and had forgotten to leave his phone number.

Caroline couldn't figure out why she cared so much. She had only met him two days ago and already her mind could focus on anything but him. He was a one-night stand that, although she didn't regret it, probably shouldn't have happened. If her father ever found out what she had done he would kill her because not only had she gone to New York without telling him but she had slept with some guy she had just met after going out into the city alone with him. Bill Salvatore would have every reason to be annoyed with her.

The plane landed and Caroline and Elena found themselves back in Miami. As they exited the airport, Caroline couldn't help but look for any of her family's men that might be looking for them at the airport. To her great relief she couldn't see any of them lurking around trying not to look suspicious.

The girls grabbed a taxi and got in quickly, checking again to make sure no one they recognised was watching them. As they drove away Caroline pulled out her phone to find that she had four missed calls from Stefan, five missed calls from her mother, ten missed calls from Damon and even a missed call from her father.

Caroline swore under her breath earning her a confused look from Elena. They had figured out she was missing. "We need a plan." She whispered to her friend. "I need a story as to why I haven't been picking up my phone all day." Elena nodded, thinking hard.

"What about if we say we went shopping and your phone died while we were out." Elena suggested and Caroline nodded agreeing to the plan. At least this way if her father asked Elena where she had been, Elena would have a story to match her own.

The taxi pulled up just down the street from Caroline's house. Her and Elena both got out and Elena grabbed her suitcase from the trunk. Elena handed her the suitcase and they hugged.

"Thank you for taking me on the best trip of my life. You are the best friend a girl could dream of." Caroline said wiping the tears from her eyes. Elena laughed and in a very Katherine like manner, flipped her hair and said,

"I know. I'm awesome." The two burst into giggles and hugged once more. "I'll see you tomorrow night at the dreaded ball." Elena said as she got into the taxi. Caroline waved her off and waited until the car had turned a corner before sighing and turning back towards her house.

* * *

"Hello? I'm back!" Caroline called as she walked through the front door, pulling her suitcase behind her.

"Where have you been?" Damon exclaimed as he ran down the stairs and hugged her tight. "I've had people looking for you all over the city. We thought that you'd been kidnapped."

"I was with Elena." Caroline said, confused. Damon had been there when Caroline had asked her father if she could go to Elena's for two nights.

"Yeah, I know. But you were supposed to back at midday. It's now nearly six. Didn't you get my calls?'" Her brother asked crossing his arms. Damon was nearly as protective over her as their father was. Caroline pitied the woman he ended up married to. The poor girl would be kept on a short leash unable to do anything without checking with him knowing where she was every minute of every day.

"No my phone died." Caroline said, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Elena and I went shopping and it died while we were out." Damon looked at her suspiciously.

"If you went shopping where are your bags?" Caroline gulped, trying to come up with something.

"My arms hurt so I out them in my suitcase." She shrugged trying to keep the tremble out of her voice. Damon raised an eyebrow but before he could question her story their mother came down the stairs.

"Caroline, darling, where have you been? Your father and I have been so worried about you!" Elizabeth Salvatore was dressed as usual in a long designer dress and expensive jewellery. She was elegant and sophisticated, two things Caroline wasn't sure she would ever be. Her mother was perfectly content to stay at home all day and gossip with other wives of crime lords. She was considered to be an ideal wife and because of that many expected Caroline to be the same.

"I'm fine." Caroline said trying to keep herself from rolling her eyes at her mother. "I've been shopping with Elena."

"Good, good." Her mother said, not really paying attention. She grabbed Caroline's wrist and pulled her towards the stairs. "Come we must make sure your gown for tomorrow night still fits. Your father is in an important meeting but he shall be joining us for dinner."

Caroline sighed, her holiday had officially ended and she had been catapulted back into reality.

* * *

**So...how was it? I'm literally cringing at that almost smut scene and would really appreciate some constructive criticism on how to improve it. I know many of you wanted to see the actual date but I tried writing that a billion times and I was really struggling so I came up with this instead.**

**What was your favourite/least favourite part? Please review below because I'm only going to improve if you guys help me out a bit xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone! Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews I got on the last chapter! Seriously you guys make my day! This chapter has taken me a week to actually write because it's the longest chapter yet by over 1000 words! It's also my favourite chapter yet because it contains a lot of key information and introduces a couple new characters. I'm sorry about the spelling. I have reread and edited it but I currently have no beta (if you're interested please leave me a review or PM me). So please read and leave me a review at the end! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own TVD or TO**

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The sun was shining down on the back garden of the Salvatore mansion. The gardeners were hard at work shaping the hedges and cutting the grass preparing for that night's celebration. Every inch of the mansion was being cleaned and dusted to perfection, even though the guests wouldn't see most of the house.

Caroline was sitting on the patio, listening to her mother gossip about one family or another, slowly eating her croissant. William Salvatore had called a family brunch saying that they needed to spend some time as a 'family'. The only person excused from family brunch was Damon, who was apparently hard at 'work'.

Stefan was seated on their father's right and the two were deep in conversation.

Although she couldn't hear most of what they were saying, Caroline could hear her father getting angrier and angrier. She heard him snarl something at Stefan who paled instantly.

"Bloody Mikaelsons." Her father muttered just loud enough for Caroline to hear. She had to stop herself from flinching at the mention of _their _name. The Mikaelsons were the stuff of nightmares and even the most powerful families were afraid of them. Even her father feared Mikael Mikealson, even though he would never admit it to anyone.

Caroline didn't know much about her family's 'business' but she had grown up hearing stories about the ruthlessness of the Mikaelsons. They were killers who showed no mercy to anyone but family and sometimes not even then. Caroline was scared that her family was just as bad, but she tried not to focus on that. No, her brothers could never do anything as bad as the Mikaelsons had ever done. They were Stefan and Damon. They would never torture innocents like the Mikaelson family did.

Mikael Mikaelson was the head of his family business. The man was known for torturing his prisoners for weeks sometimes months on end before finally letting them die. He was cold and calculating and a 'manipulating old prick' as her father liked to describe him when he was angry. Mikael had four heirs who were all just as bad as, or maybe worse as, he was.

Finn, his eldest, was one of the top lawyers in Miami and while Caroline wasn't sure whether or not he had ever killed anyone he was just as bad as the rest. Finn was able to make sure his family never ran into trouble with the FBI and were able to continue business as usual without interruption. Without Finn, Mikael would be serving a hundred life sentences by now.

Elijah, his second eldest, was known as the most honourable Mikaelson but that didn't mean he was all sunshine and daisies. Elijah was just as evil as the rest of his family but he never killed without reason and didn't take the same pleasure in killing people as his two younger brothers did.

Kol, the youngest Mikaelson, was bat shit crazy. Seriously, he belonged in a mental hospital. He was known for beating his victims senseless with a baseball bat before they died of exhaustion or he murdered them. But Kol was no comparison to Klaus Mikaelson.

Klaus was the devil reincarnated. He was pure evil. And from what Caroline had heard, he was next in line to the family business. Klaus was Mikael's prodigy, his favourite son. He was Mikael's pride possession. Caroline had heard stories from Damon who had once gotten into a fight with him and come back with a broken arm and six fractured ribs. Him and Damon had met in a bar and Klaus had hit a bottle over his head before destroying his ribs and breaking his arm.

Mikael also had a daughter but, like herself and her mother, she was kept well away from his family business.

Caroline had never met any of the Mikaelsons and had only been told stories from people loyal to her father so some of the stories may have been over exaggerated. But there was no smoke without fire.

Caroline heard her mother calling her name and turned to face her. Her mother was looking at her expectantly as if waiting for an answer. "Sorry, what?" Caroline asked trying to look innocent. Elizabeth Salvatore sighed.

"Pardon, Caroline. You have to say pardon not what. And I asked you whether or not you were excited for tonight?" Caroline suppressed a groan and put on her well-practiced fake smile.

"Of course, mother. I can not wait for the ball tonight." Her voice dripped with sarcasm but her mother didn't seem to notice. From the corner of her eye Caroline saw Stefan try to stifle a smile. He obviously had noticed her sarcasm.

"Well I'm pleased. People loyal to your father are coming in from all over the country for tonight! Grayson and Miranda Gilbert will be there with their son Jeremy who apparently has been having a relationship with a member of the help! God, someone needs to keep that boy in line. Plus Mason and Tyler Lockwood are both coming as well. Now there are two very attractive young men. Tyler Lockwood in particular." Caroline had to stop herself from laughing at her over the top mother. Elizabeth Salvatore reminded Caroline a lot of herself when she was fifteen.

"The ball is not an excuse to have fun, my dear." William Salvatore commented half-heartedly over the top of his newspaper, which he was now flicking through. "The only reason we're even throwing this thing is to negotiate terms to bring them to our side. Especially now the Mikaelsons have the O'Connor's wrapped around their fingers."

Camille O'Conner was Caroline's childhood friend. They had played together in the huge Salvatore gardens when they were in elementary and middle school. But Camille was sent off to a private boarding school in Malaysia and Caroline hadn't heard anything from her or about her since.

Until seven months ago her father received news that Camille was marrying Marcel Gerard.

The Gerard's were one of the Mikaelson's closest allies and the two families had stuck together for generations. Marcel Gerard Klaus's best friend, maybe even his only friend. They had much in common; both from mafia families, both heir's to the family business and they both had an extremely high death count.

Caroline pitied her friend. That was the exact life she was afraid she would be pushed into. Camille had been used as a pawn in Mikael's game. It was a way for Mikael to gain power over the Salvatore's without any bloodshed. Caroline knew her brothers would try their best to stop their father from marrying her off but William Salvatore's word was law.

When her father had found out about Camille's marriage he had gone ballistic. By aligning themselves to the Gerard's, the O'Connor's had in turn aligned themselves to the Mikaleson's meaning that there were less powerful families who Bill was able to convince to join his side in the war that was surly coming.

He had arranged a series of ball's and charity events that was mandatory attendance for Caroline, Damon and Stefan. Caroline danced with many heirs to family fortunes and businesses as well as old men that stank and had obviously forgotten to clean their teeth.

In main Bill wanted to secure alliances with the Lockwood's and Gilbert's. Both families had young sons that would soon take over from their fathers. In her father's mind this made them perfect since they would be easy to mould into loyal followers.

Caroline sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She knew that she should be paying attention and trying to remember whom everyone was and who was aligned with whom but she just didn't care. It just didn't interest her. She wanted to be interested in family politics but she just wasn't. Caroline was interested in normal life. She was interested in regular people problems like the earthquake in Nepal and the war in Syria. If she weren't a Salvatore, Caroline would have studied Broadcast Journalism at college and would have become a war photographer or a journalist. But she was and her world revolved around the decisions her father made.

She couldn't stop herself from thinking about Nathan. He had been a constant in her mind since that night in New York. It was only days ago but it felt more like years. Caroline wondered what he was doing right now. Was he thinking about her? Was he thinking about that night?

Who was she kidding! Nathan probably had a supermodel fiancé with amazing legs and dark brown hair that looked perfect all the time back in London. He was amazing, funny and smart and everything else Caroline had ever wanted in a man but there was no way in hell he didn't at least have a girlfriend.

Caroline's snapped out of her thoughts when her mother shook her arm. "Caroline, if I've told you once I've told you a million times! No daydreaming! Pay attention to what I'm telling you! Who wants a wife who can't pay attention for five minutes?" Her mother said, scolding her. Caroline tried to stop herself from rolling her eyes for the hundredth time in the past hour and a half.

"What if I don't care about getting married? What if I want to go see the world instead of being cooped up in Miami all the time? The city's great but there's so much to see beyond here! I want to go to London, Paris, and Tokyo! I want to see it all." Caroline said. She hadn't meant to tell her mother that, especially not with Stefan and her father obviously listening in. But it was true. She was so sick of being stuck in this god-forsaken city!

"And how are you going to afford to go to all these places?" William Salvatore said, staring at her. Caroline gulped but put her brave face on. If she stood up to him and tell him how she really felt he might actually let her leave.

"I could get a job." Caroline suggested, refusing to look away from her father's hard stare.

"Who's going to hire a twenty four year old who's never had a job before?" He said cruelly before turning back to his newspaper. Caroline's heart dropped as she realised he was right. No one in his or her right mind would hire someone who had zero work experience. She was stuck. The only way she would get away was to get married. This had probably been her father's plan all along. He wouldn't let her get a job so that she would always remain tied to him.

"Plus Caroline, a woman of your standard shouldn't be working! She should be living a life of luxury with a loving husband and in return she should help continue his line. She should have sons and daughters to one day run the business." Her mother supplied trying to be helpful.

'I didn't realise we'd been transported to 15th century England' Caroline thought bitterly. Seriously! This was the twenty-first freakin century!

"Come, Caroline." Her mother said standing up, gracefully and elegantly something Caroline couldn't do to save her life. "We have to prepare for tonight!" Before turning back to the house Elizabeth went over to her father and pecked him on the cheek. Caroline went and did the same, looking over at Stefan while she did so to see him once again trying not to laugh, before following her mother into the house.

It wasn't fair! Stefan didn't have to go through hours of preparation with their mother for the stupid ball. No, he just put on a suit, styled his hair a bit and bang! He was ready to go! Caroline on the other hand was forced to go to the spa with her mother with Elizabeth rattled on about the 'appropriate ways to behave' and told her repeatedly not to 'embarrass her father'.

Towards the end her mother had obviously ran out of things to say so she moved onto her next favourite topic; how to be a good wife and raise children. While it was a _fascinating_ topic, Caroline didn't want to talk about it. Sure she wanted kids but not for another seven maybe eight years and it had to be with the right person. Her family wanted her to get married within the next year or so to create an alliance and 'build the family name'. Under no circumstances was she to marry for love because as mentioned before she had been magically transported back to medieval times where she had no say in her own life.

She would probably marry one of the Lockwood boys or Jeremy Gilbert, as they were two of the more powerful families on her father's side who were her age. If she had to choose she would choose Gilbert each and every time. The Lockwood's were nearly as brutal as the Mikaelsons.

After being pampered and tortured at the same time Caroline was ushered into the limo, before she was ushered upstairs to finish getting ready. Her dress was long and pale pink like something a Disney Princess would wear. It was the exact opposite of the dress she had worn Friday night when she was with Elena. She looked good but nowhere near as good as she had in New York on her date with Nathan. She had probably looked so good that night because she had been looking forward to the date while she was dreading the ball.

After putting the finishing touches on her hair, which was braided and tied up, Caroline went down stairs to the entrance hall where the rest of her family was waiting for her. Her father greets her at the bottom and leads her over to where her mother is busy fussing over Damon's hair. It won't stay in one place and she keeps reaching out to fix it.

Her father hands her over to Stefan who smiles at her. Caroline gives him a fake smile back but to anyone else it would look real. To anyone but Stefan she was as happy as could be!

"Ok, Caroline, tonight you are to stay with Stefan or Damon at all times unless either of the Lockwood's ask you to dance or the Gilbert boy asks you to dance." Caroline see's Damon scowl at the mention of the Lockwood's but he quickly covers it over, returning his expression blank once more.

"Remember who we are." Her father says to them all. "We're Salvatores, the most powerful family Miami has ever seen! We're are not going to let some English family with a stupid name come in and take that from us!" With that the five of them walk towards the ballroom; her mother and father first, followed behind Damon with Stefan and Caroline behind him.

The ballroom was filled with people talking in small groups each busy discussing family politics or gossip. But when they walked in everyone stopped and turned to stare at them. Caroline gulped, nervously. She liked balls but she never liked it when her family hosted them. They always ended in people arguing and sometimes people dying. Caroline looked around, desperately looking for Elena. She finds her standing with her mother and father, wearing a blood red dress that was probably Katherine's once upon a time.

"Welcome, my friends, to our home! We are here to celebrate an alliance between families that will last for generations to come. I'm very proud to announce that Grayson Gilbert and his family are joining us in this constant battle against those who want to hurt us. The battle against those who want to hurt our children. The battles against those who want to destroy are legacies!" Her father finished his speech and everyone in the room clapped, most likely out of fear. Her father then took her mother's hand and led her down the staircase.

Caroline's surprised to hear that the Gilberts have joined her father in an alliance. She decided to ask Stefan about it later when the ball had finally finished.

Caroline see's her friend's dark hair moving towards them through the crowds of people. As her and Stefan reached the bottom it was clear that Stefan had seen her too because he hands her straight over to Damon before going to talk to some elder men who are drinking in the corner. Caroline watches him go feeling sorry for him. Things between him and Elena were awkward to say the least. They hadn't spoken since the break up and every time they saw each other they walked in opposite directions. Caroline knew Stefan hadn't meant to be rude; he was just avoiding his ex-girlfriend, which was completely understandable.

Elena also watches Stefan go, a solemn expression on her face. Elena still loved Stefan, Caroline was sure of that, and wanted to rekindle their relationship or at the least become friends once more. Elena let out a heavy sigh.

"Still not talking to me, huh." She said. Caroline can see Damon frown slightly at her friend's words. Caroline stops herself from rolling her eyes at her idiot older brother. Damon had been crushing on Elena since forever and although he had hidden it well (or at least well enough that Stefan never found out) Caroline had figured it out instantly. Damon was just to damn scared to tell her.

"I'm sure he'll come around. Just give him some time." Caroline said trying to reassure her friend but feeling terrible because Damon was still right next to her.

"Why should I give him time? He broke up with me!" Elena said, flicking her hair for effect and making Caroline laugh. It was such a Katherine thing to do. Elena was turning more into Katherine with every passing day and Caroline knew that this was her way of mourning her sister who she hadn't seen in a hell of a long time.

Elena laughs with her before smiling sadly. "It's Katherine's dress. My mum wanted me to get a new one but I insisted on wearing this. It was one of her favourites and if she really is g-gone than she'd want someone to still wear it, right?" Caroline can tell Elena's is close to tears and Caroline feels the need to hug her. But hugging people falls under 'unacceptable behaviour' so Caroline settles for putting a reassuring hand on her arm.

"You know Kat, she'll show up in a while with a crazy story about a hot French guy on a yacht who was madly in love with her. Or two Italian brothers who fought over her love but in the end she decided to leave them both, shattering their hearts in the process. She's Katherine Petrova and she's a hell of a lot cleverer than people give her credit for." Damon said to Caroline's surprise sipping a glass of champagne. Elena also looks at him shocked before nodding.

"Thank you, Damon. I really needed to hear that. I have to go back to my mum and dad now but I'll text you later, Care." Elena said giving them a tight smile before heading back to where she came from.

"Damon Salvatore." Caroline heard a voice from behind them say. They turned around to see Mason and Tyler Lockwood smirking at them. "It's been a long time."

Damon smiles at him. It's a fake smile but it looks real enough. "Mason Lockwood. How are you?"

"I'm good. Was that Elena Petrova?" Mason asked.

"Yes she was just worried about her sister." Caroline supplied, feeling like she was being ignored. Mason glanced at her before turning his attention back to Damon.

"Katherine? She'll be fine. She's probably in some guy's bed, sucking him off. Always did have a nice mouth, that one." Caroline couldn't believe what she was hearing. She felt the need to slap him but felt like it would probably fall under 'unacceptable behaviour' and she would get into trouble with her father if she did. Tyler on the other hand, laughs at his brother's comment nodding his head in agreement.

"True," he said, "Katherine always was a dirty whore." Caroline clenched her fists, trying to control her anger and Damon coughed loudly before changing the subject but Caroline wasn't listening anymore.

Caroline couldn't believe what the Lockwood's had just said! Yeah, sure, Katherine had a bit of a reputation but she was still a human being and no one should be talked about in that way. It was unbelievable how rude people could be behind each other's back. Her and Elena used to gossip a lot but it was never as hurtful as what had just been said about Katherine. And to think these two were two thirds of the options she had for potential husbands. Jeremy Gilbert was looking like a dream come true.

Damon calling her name snapped Caroline out of thought. "Caroline. Caroline. Caroline…"

"Sorry. I wasn't concentrating." Caroline said trying her best to actually sound at least a little bit sorry.

"No worries, women have the attention spam of a goldfish." Mason said with a nod. Caroline once again felt the need to punch him in the face. Caroline smiles apologetically.

"Tyler wanted to know if you would dance with him." Damon told her, and before Caroline could come up with a reason not to dance with Tyler Lockwood, Damon had handed her over to his slimy greasy hands.

Tyler led her over to a group of people and the two of them begin to waltz. Caroline did her best not to look at him but he was staring at her with an animalistic hunger in his eyes. Suddenly he spoke, forcing Caroline to look at him.

"You are very beautiful, Caroline." Caroline gave him her best fake smile, which she seemed to be doing a lot lately, but has to stop herself from snorting at the compliment. He was probably just trying to make it up to her for the Katherine thing earlier. Before she can thank him for the compliment, Tyler continues. "My father said that there's a good chance we'll be married in a couple years time so I'll have to wait until then to fuck you."

Caroline couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was kidding, right? "Excuse me?"

Tyler flashed her a predatory smile that set her on edge and made her skin crawl with disgust. "That's right, Caroline." He said, patronisingly. "We'll be married. And then I'll fuck you every night until you're heavy with my child and every night after this. But know this, my dear sweet Caroline, I will not love you but I expect you to love me. I will be the only man in your life, Caroline. If you follow my rules I can assure you that I won't lay my hands on you. Well, not too much wouldn't want to destroy that beautiful face."

With that the dance ended and Tyler flashed her another smile before going back to his brother's side. Mason Lockwood was now in deep conversation with Grayson and Miranda Gilbert.

Caroline stood frozen still in the middle of the floor. She doesn't care if people are staring at her she's too busy trying to digest what she just heard. No way in hell was she marrying that sorry excuse for a man. Suddenly someone tugged on her arm from behind. Caroline turned around and found that it was Stefan and that he was leading her over to where Elena was standing looking concerned. Elena pulled her into a tight hug, obviously not caring whether it was 'acceptable behaviour' or not.

"What happened out there?" Elena asked once she released Caroline. Caroline smiled sadly.

"Just Tyler Lockwood being a pig." She said. Elena didn't need to know the truth. She would just worry and Caroline didn't want her worrying more than she already was.

"Are you sure? You looked like someone had just died in front of you." Stefan said sounding worried. Elena nodded in agreement and Caroline was glad that Stefan was able to be in Elena's presence but didn't want them worrying about her.

"Guys I'm fine I…" Caroline started but before she could finish a gunshot ran from the doors of the ballroom.

The room went so silent you could have heard a pin drop. Miranda Gilbert screaming shattered the silence. Caroline turned to look at the woman, who was now sobbing hysterically. She was on her knees holding her husband's head in her hands. Grayson Gilbert's stomach was stained red and Caroline could see he wasn't breathing. Instead of helping the poor man the whole room just stood and watched.

Her family's newest ally was dead.

"Bill, old friend! How are you? Good I hope?" Caroline turned her head to see an older looking man at the top of the stairs. He had silver hair and dark hollow eyes. In his left hand he held a gun. Mikael Mikaelson.

Caroline's father steps forward and Caroline can feel Stefan release his grip on her hand and move from her side. Before he's gone she grabs his hand a squeezes tight, still not taking her eyes of Mikael. Stefan squeezes it back before releasing her hand and going to stand by their father. He has to go to show family strength and loyalty. Damon is already standing on their father's right, his face expressionless, but Caroline can tell he's scared.

"You have no business here, Mikael. You come in here and kill the head of one of the most powerful families in Miami; there will be repercussions. Do not think for one second we will not strike back." Instead of cowering at her father's words, Mikael's smirk grew and turned into a ferocious grin as he saw Stefan come to stand on her father's left.

"Your son's loyalty is admirable. But while you have two I have four." Mikael said and just as he finished his sentence every single glass window that surrounded the ballroom, shattered into a million pieces.

Glass went flying everywhere and Caroline and Elena had to cover their faces with their arms to stop any glass going into their eyes. After some time Caroline opened her eyes to see that they were surrounded by hundreds of men dressed in black. Out of all the men only two showed their faces.

One was a young man who could only be a couple years older than Caroline herself. His face was boyish but behind the innocent façade, there was a darkness that Caroline had never seen before. Kol Mikaelson, the youngest son of Mikael Mikaelson.

The other man was tall and muscly who wore a face she knew all to well. It was the face she had dreamed about seeing for the past two days. It was Nathan's face. And it was staring straight at her.

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**What do you think? Isn't Bill an arse trying to control Caroline like that? And where the hell is Katherine? How much do you guys hate Tyler and Mason right now? How will Caroline react to seeing 'Nathan' again? Tell me what you think! Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! Yes, I am still alive! It's been 3 months but I'm still here! I've been writing this chapter for the past month but I only finished it today. It's a bit rushed towards the end because I really wanted to post tonight, and while I have checked over it please forgive any errors since I still have no Beta :( But anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter though I must say that this is a filler chapter but don't worry things start to pick up in the next chapter!**

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Reality slowed down for a few seconds that night. Everything happened in slow motion; Miranda Gilbert wailing over the death of her husband, banging her fists on his chest, Stefan and Damon both pulling out their guns and pointing them at Kol and Nathan. No not Nathan, Klaus Mikaelson.

Caroline couldn't take her eyes of him for a second. Nathan Morgan the charming, sweet, funny sex-god from London, was Klaus Mikaelson, one of the most dangerous criminals on the planet. Klaus had turned his attention back to his father but wasn't able to stand still. He kept moving his weight from his left leg to his right one indicating that he was slightly uncomfortable. Was it wrong for Caroline to hope that it was because of her?

She couldn't help but think that the world was out to get her. Did the universe want her to marry Tyler-fucking-Lockwood! Was this some sick joke? Caroline sees Klaus turn to look at her again. Caroline stares straight back at him unable to look anywhere else. It's obvious he recognises her but did he know who she was? Caroline can't stop herself from wondering whether or not anything between them meant anything to him. Did he care about her at all? Or did he recognise her in New York and decide that he'd found a great way to mess with her family? Or worst of all was he just following Mikael's orders? Caroline can feel sick in her mouth at that last thought.

"Consider tonight a warning!" Mikael was saying, addressing all of the guests. "Anyone who chooses to side against us will end up with the same fate as Grayson Gilbert, here. Make no mistake, we will kill you." Mikael then turned his attention to Mason Gilbert. "Choose your allies very closely, boy." With that Mikael turned and walked back out of the double doors. Too make matters worse Mikael Mikaelson was going to walk out through the front door. Klaus and Kol followed behind him but not before Klaus turned back to look once more at Caroline.

Caroline shivered at his eyes on her. They were the eyes of a predator and they were looking at her as if she were his next meal.

The rest of Mikael's men, apart from a few who followed Klaus and Kol, left silently through what used to be the large glass windows. Within a few minutes they were all gone, the only evidence that they were ever there in the first place being the glass on the floor and the dead body of Grayson Gilbert.

Suddenly the whole room broke out into conversation and Miranda Gilbert resumed wailing. Caroline could see Jeremy Gilbert move towards his mother and attempt to console her. Jeremy and Caroline were close growing up and seeing him like that, trying to hide his own tears while trying to console his mother, broke her heart.

Caroline feels a tug at her arm. She turns and see's Elena standing behind her, tears rolling down her face. Caroline pulls Elena towards her and gives her friend a tight hug. While Caroline and Jeremy were childhood friends, Elena and Jeremy were cousins and Caroline knew that Elena would be taking the death of her uncle hard especially after the disappearance of Katherine. Elena pulls back and wipes the tears out of her eyes.

"Are you ok?" Elena asks and Caroline lets out a laugh. Saint Elena had returned to make sure everyone was all right.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Caroline responded with a sad smile. Elena frowned slightly. "But yes I'm ok. You?" Elena shakes her head.

"My family members seem to be dropping like flies" She stated bitterly and Caroline pulls her into another hug.

Damon, who grabbed Caroline by the arm and pulled her away without saying a word, interrupted their hug. She knew Damon wanted to say something to Elena, but family came first meaning that Caroline was more important than Elena right now. Caroline turned back to look at her friend and mouthed goodbye. Elena nodded and gave her a slight wave. They walk back to the entrance hall and the huge mahogany doors slam behind them making Caroline jump.

Caroline could see her father and Stefan having a heated discussion as her mother stood to one side, watching from the sidelines. Elizabeth turned when she heard Damon and herself enter and rushed towards them wrapping Caroline in a tight embrace.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth said, checking her over to make sure that she was okay. Caroline had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at her mother's antics but nodded her head, assuring her mother that she was fine. Her mother nods but Caroline can tell that she's not convinced. Elizabeth Salvatore was far more intelligent than she let on.

Her mother then turned and returned to her father's side, where finally he and Stefan had stopped fighting. Stefan looked angry and Caroline gave him a small smile. He returned it and for a brief moment his anger disappeared before it returned.

"I need to find out who let Mikael Mikaelson into my house! They will pay for causing us great shame! Our allies will flock to join him if we appear to be weak, we must prove to them that we are far superior to those Mikaelson thugs!" William Salvatore yelled. Caroline was used to her father being angry but this time his anger was mixed with desperation. Elizabeth placed a hand on his shoulder in attempt to soothe him but he shrugged her off. Caroline's mother looked hurt but her father didn't notice. "Caroline, you and your mother are not to leave the house until we find out who is responsible for this." Bill continues rubbing his forehead with his hand. "We can't risk your safety."

"What!" Caroline yelled indignantly, anger flooding her features. "That's not fair! I'm nor a child! I can look after myself, thank you very much! Banning me from leaving is completely unreasonable and unnecessary!"

"For God's sake, Caroline! Can't you see that I am trying to protect you! You don't know how to protect yourself! You couldn't defend yourself if anyone tried to attack you! You're a weak little girl who needs all the help she can get!" Bill said getting angrier at every word. Caroline feels something explode inside her. A volcano of emotions comes rising up and there's nothing Caroline can do to stop them pouring out of her mouth.

"I am not two years old! I am a grown woman who can look after myself! Why can't you understand that? And if I were weak it would only be because you wanted me to be weak! You wanted me to be defenceless! You wanted me to have to depend on you to protect me! Well newsflash; I don't need you! I don't need you to protect me! I don't need you to look after me! I don't need you to control my life for me!" Stefan and Damon stare at her but Caroline is so caught up in the moment she barley notices it. She's staring defiantly at her father who looks like he's going to burst with anger at any moment.

"My word is final!" He said before turning to face her brothers. "Stefan please escort your sister to her room and make sure she calms down from her tantrum."

"Urgh I don't need someone to 'escort' me to my room!" Caroline growled, even more angry and frustrated than before. Without waiting for her father's response, Caroline swiftly turns on her heel and storms off in the direction of her room.

As Caroline approached her bedroom she realised she was close to tears. Caroline entered quickly and closed the door behind her as quietly as she could, her confidence from earlier now gone. Caroline walked over to her bed and sighed deeply, placing her head in her hands. A loud bang comes from behind her making her jump. As she turns, she sees that she left her window wide open. The moonlight pours into her bedroom illuminating the room, making objects such as her dolls from when she was a child seem creepy.

Caroline slowly moved towards her balcony. It was stupid since she knew that there was no one in her room and it was far to high for someone to be so stupid as to climb up to her balcony. Peering over the edge of her balcony, as expected, she sees that no one is there. Of course there isn't, Caroline thinks rolling her eyes at her own actions. It was just the wind. But as Caroline looks out over her garden she swears she can see someone dressed in all black, staring at her.

Caroline goes back inside her bedroom, locking the balcony door behind her. She was just tired from the events at the ball. From the Lockwood boys to Nathan/Klaus that night had been one of the most eventful nights of her life.

She just couldn't believe that Mikael Mikaelson had been able to get into their house so easily! Shit! Had he come in through her window? She had left it unlocked and someone like Mikael would have been able to climb up to her balcony, no problem. Just the thought of Mikael Mikaelson being in her room, snooping through her things, made her shiver. Had she been the reason why Jeremy's dad had been killed? Had she been the reason that her childhood friend now had so much responsibility on his shoulders? Caroline felt her eyes well up with tears at the thought.

No, she was being stupid. Mikael Mikaelson had not gotten in to her house by climbing through her window. He probably hadn't even have thought of that. How would he have known that she would have left her window open? But her window had been open and she was sure she had seen someone in her garden.

God she was being stupid! She was only seeing what she wanted to see. She wanted some way of proving that Nathan, no Klaus, had actually been interested in her. That he hadn't just gone on a date with her to gather information about her family. That he hadn't had sex with her just to humiliate her.

But unfortunately this seemed to be what had happened. Klaus Mikaelson had used her for his family's benefit. Caroline's father had been right; she wasn't able to look after herself in the real world. She had slept with someone that she had only met the day before and thought that that was perfectly normal. Shaking her head at her foolishness she turned from her window and headed back towards her bed.

Caroline changed out of her long ball gown and put on her pyjamas before cleaning her teeth and going to bed.

Her mother, who had opened her curtains allowing the sun to pour into her room, woke Caroline up the next morning. Caroline clenched her eyes shut and pretended to still be asleep.

"Caroline, I know you're awake." Her mother said moving towards her bed. "Come on, up!"

"I don't want to. Let me sleep!" Caroline refused, still not opening her eyes. She heard her mother sigh.

"You have to, Caroline! You're going to get up, get showered and come downstairs for a family breakfast."

"What's the point? I'm not allowed to go anywhere! I'm stuck in this God forsaken house!" Caroline said rolling over so that she was facing away from her mother.

"Caroline," Elizabeth said as she sat down on the edge of her daughter's bed. "Your father is only doing these things to protect you. He just wants to keep you safe. And anyway, sitting up here sulking is not the way to prove to your father that you're a grown up!"

Caroline didn't respond and after a couple of minutes in awkward silence, Elizabeth stood up and walked out of the room. Caroline opened her eyes and sat up in her bed. She sighed before heading over to her bathroom to have a shower.

Once out of the shower, Caroline got dressed into a pair of jeans, a plain white vest top and a pair of her favourite sandals. She couldn't be bothered to dry her hair so she plaited it into two simple braids before heading down to breakfast.

As she entered the room she saw that her mother and brothers were already seated and Stefan was talking with her mother while Damon sat and read the paper. Caroline sat down next to Damon and began to put various bits of fruit onto the plate in front of her as well as a selection of pastries. Caroline hadn't eaten much the night before and she was starving!

Caroline didn't speak to anyone but instead she focused on her breakfast. She was being childish but she just didn't want to talk to any of them, especially not her father. She could feel both her brother's eyes on her but refused to look up and acknowledge them. Damon exhaled loudly, obviously frustrated by her actions and Caroline had to stop herself from smiling.

Stefan chuckled quietly to himself and Caroline looked up at him, and grinned. Stefan always knew how to make her smile when she was upset. Forcing herself to look back down at her food, Caroline finished her croissant before moving on to the next item on her plate.

The four of them continued to eat in silence for a couple of minutes before William Salvatore entered, looking angrier than Caroline had ever seen him.

"Father, is everything ok?" Damon asked cautiously, careful to keep his tone soft as not to further anger their father.

"No. We still haven't found who was responsible for letting Mikael Mikaelson into our house last night."

Last night. God, how could she forget last night? Nathan was Klaus. Klaus was a Mikaelson. Klaus had been in her home.

"What are we going to do about Grayson Gilbert?" Stefan asked, taking a sip of his coffee. Caroline's father looked at his younger son and sighed.

"There's not much we can do. His funeral is being held later this week. We'll all be attending and then hopefully Jeremy Gilbert with honour his father's alliance with us."

Caroline's heart broke once more as she thought about Jeremy Gilbert. The two had been close as children and even though they hadn't spoken in a while, Caroline felt a kind of connection to Jeremy. He had been one of her first friends and he had just lost his father and was expected to take over his father's business.

Caroline nodded at her father and continued to eat her breakfast.

* * *

Five days later Caroline stood with her family over Grayson Gilbert's open casket. Many other people she recognised surrounded them. Elena and her family stood talking to Miranda Gilbert who was crying. Jeremy had his arm around his mother as he tried to comfort her but to no avail. The Lockwood brothers stood whispering together in the corner and Caroline rolled her eyes at their lack of respect.

The Salvatore's took their seats and after the service had ended headed inside where Caroline was dragged into small talk. After thirty-five minutes of mindless, meaningless conversation, Caroline excused herself under the excuse of needing some fresh air. Caroline stepped outside and smiled.

It was the first time she'd been outside the house all week. She had spent most of her time sitting in her bedroom reading or texting Elena. Her father had finally found out who was responsible for letting Mikael Mikaelson inside the house. It had been Jonas Martin. His daughter Greta was being held hostage by the Mikaelsons and he had been promised her safe return if he had helped them get into the Salvatore Mansion. William made sure he had been killed as slowly as possible.

Caroline looked through the graveyard and saw Jeremy Gilbert sitting over his father's grave. Caroline headed over to him slowly and sits down next to him on her knees. She pulls him into a tight hug and Jeremy lets himself cry into her shoulder.

After a few minutes Jeremy pulled back and wiped his eyes.

"Thank you, Caroline. I really needed that. I just wish you hadn't been here to see me cry." Caroline smiles at him reassuringly.

"Don't worry about it, just remember; I'll always be here for you, whenever you need."

The two sit, side by side, until the sun comes down. Caroline stands and with one final squeeze of his hand walks off back towards where her family are waiting for her.

Caroline steps into the car after Stefan, Damon following after her. The three sit in silence as the car drives off at speed and within half and hour they were home. Once they arrived, Caroline's mother and father were waiting for them at the door.

"Caroline, sweetheart, straight to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow!" Caroline's mother said to her, ushering her up the stairs. Caroline rolled her eyes but does what she says anyway.

Caroline walked into her room and sighed. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. The lights were off just how she left them, but something feels different about the room. She turned on the lights, to find Klaus standing centimetres away from her.

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**Please leave a review and tell me what you think! **

**P.S I'm feeling really evil right now ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! I have not given up on this story! I'm still here! The response on my last chapter was absolutely amazing! I got 30 reviews on the last chapter! 30! I'm now only 7 off 100! That's ****incredible! Thank you so much for your support! I love you all lots!**

**This chapter was so much fun to write! However, I wrote most of it in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep so there may be some spelling mistakes her and there since I have checked over it but may have missed a few. So I hope you enjoy this chapter and please remember to leave a review at the end! **

**Disclaimer/ Trigger Warning: Graphic Violence is described in detail. **

* * *

Caroline could feel his breath on her face. He smelt like cigars and bourbon, a smell she was used to since all Damon ever drank was bourbon. He looked exactly how she remembered him; curly blonde-brown hair, deep green eyes that Caroline could easily get lost in and extremely cute dimples.

But now he was different. He was Klaus-fucking-Mikaelson. Suspected heir to the Mikaelson family business. He was a ruthless, cold-blooded killer who showed no mercy. His touch, which had made her feel powerful and strong, now made her feel weak and defenceless.

He could kill her with his bare hands. He would be starting a war, but he could still do it.

Klaus was staring at her intensely as if he thought that if he just kept looking at her, he would be able to see into her soul. Caroline didn't dare break eye contact.

Here he was, in her house, in her room. Caroline wasn't sure whether she was terrified or excited. He was here! Nathan was here! The man she had dreamed about nearly every night since leaving New York. But he was Klaus Mikaelson…

Caroline opened her mouth, to speak or to scream she wasn't entirely sure, and in one swift moment Klaus had her pinned up against the wall with his hand covering her mouth.

"Don't scream" Klaus said as he pulled his hand away from her mouth. "If your father finds out I'm in here we're going to be in a bit of a sticky situation, aren't we love?" Klaus raised an eyebrow mockingly.

He was teasing her! Did he not understand that this was not the appropriate place to be teasing her? Not when she felt a thousand and one different emotions swirling around her head at once. Not when she hated him, with every fibre of her being, for tricking her into falling for him. Not when she was so excited that he was here because it proved that he had been thinking of her, even if it was just a little bit. Not when she wanted to scream and cry and yell and curse and scream some more before she kissed him senseless. No, now was not the time to be teasing her.

A loud smack echoed around Caroline's large bedroom.

Klaus hadn't even flinched. A bright red mark was left on the side of his face from where her palm had connected with his face and yet he hadn't even flinched. He didn't even look angry. He was still smirking down at her.

Caroline on the other hand was feeling immense pain. "You son of a bitch." She said cradling her wounded hand. Her hand was buzzing painfully as she shook it trying to get the pain to wear off. Klaus just looked at her amused.

"If I seem to recall, you were the one who slapped me, sweetheart. Not the other way around. In this circumstance, I am the victim."

Caroline just glared at him. "What the hell do you think you are doing breaking into my room? I'm sure you already know this but just in case you don't know, breaking and entering is a felony!"

"I had to see you." Klaus replied with a shrug of his shoulders, like it was no big deal. That one sentence made Caroline's heart flutter with joy. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since New York and then when I saw you at the ball, I knew I had to speak to you privately."

"How did you even get into my room?" Caroline demanded. She had yet to break eye contact with the murderous, sort-of-romantic man in front of her.

"I climbed onto your balcony and then entered through the doors." Klaus said gesturing to the large windows behind him. Caroline scoffed.

"You sound like Romeo, you know? Climbing onto my balcony in the middle of the night? How very romantic of you." Caroline said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. Klaus raised both his eyebrows at this.

"Are you comparing me to a dopey, love sick fool who goes around moping about love?"

"That description seems to fit you perfectly." Caroline said, a smirk creeping up onto her face. She folded her arms and waited for his retort.

But to her surprise, Klaus didn't retort. Instead he burst out laughing. His laugh was contagious and after a couple of seconds, Caroline joined in with him.

Caroline suddenly remembered that they weren't the only ones in the house and gestured for him to keep it down. Klaus stopped laughing and nodding understanding that they had to keep quiet if they didn't want to alert the rest of Caroline's family.

Caroline sighed heaving and ran a hand through her hair. "I still don't understand what you're doing here. You've won already. You've completed your task of sleeping with me so you can run back to your family and tell them all about how you fucked the stupid little Salvatore daughter." Caroline had meant for it to come out angry but it instead came out sad. She had honestly believed that Nathan had really cared for her but now it seemed like it was just one huge practical joke to humiliate her and her family.

"Caroline," Klaus said, still centimetres away from her face. It felt so good to hear him call her Caroline rather than Charlotte. "My family didn't know that I was in New York. I was in Chicago that week on business but it was cut short so I decided to head to New York to escape coming back to Miami. Then I met you, and I swear to God, I didn't know who you were. I honestly thought that you were just a hot girl from a club who had a light about her that I had never seen before. I didn't know that you were Caroline Salvatore. I swear, I didn't know. " He sounded so sincere that Caroline wanted desperately to believe him. But how did she know for sure he wasn't lying to her? How did she know that he actually didn't recog-

Suddenly Klaus's lips were on hers and they were kissing.

The kiss was slow and sensual and sent Caroline to the edge of oblivion. Caroline was whirled up into memories of New York and that one night they had spent together. How he had kissed every single section of her body. Klaus's kisses made her feel invincible. His kisses were the perfect mix between dominant and submissive. Klaus's tongue explored her mouth thoroughly, making sure to leave nowhere unexplored.

Then it was over. Klaus pulled back from the kiss and stared at her with a mixture of lust and…. maybe not quite love just yet but definably with deep caring.

After a few minutes Caroline spoke. "I don't believe you, you know." She shook her head as tears began to appear in her eyes. "I know what this is to you; a game. Men is this world, in our world. They're all the same. You all see love like a game and women are your prizes to be won."

Klaus moved forward and grabbed the sides of her head. "You are no game Caroline. Everything I did in New York and everything I have done tonight has been one hundred per cent genuine. I'm not in love with you yet, I don't believe you can fall in love with someone this quickly, but I'm certainly heading in that direction." Klaus pulled away and turned his back on her. "You don't know how difficult this is for me! I don't handle feelings like this well. I'm not going to lie; I'm not a good man, Caroline. But neither is anyone else in this world."

"You're right." Caroline whispered, just loud enough that he could hear. "You're a killer, a monster and a Mikaelson! The worst of all!"

Klaus doesn't say anything at her words. He doesn't turn around, but he doesn't move further away either. "I'm not going to deny anything that you have just said because it's all true. I have killed and I most likely will kill again. I'm not going to change, Caroline. I can't, this is who I am. But this is what your brothers are as well. You may think us Mikaelsons are the worst, but I guess you've never heard the stories of the Salvatore brothers. Stefan 'The Rippah' Salvatore, for example, is probably the most dangerous man in the world. I've seen him at work; he takes pleasure torturing his victims. He's created new methods of torture that the world has never seen before."

No. Caroline refused to believe this. It was Stefan he was talking about! Stefan, her big brother who always looked out for her and made sure she was ok. Stefan could never do anything like that.

"And don't even get me started on Damon. Damon is ten times worse than Stefan. Stefan is capable of mercy; Damon isn't. We sent a guy in a year or so back to do bit of spy work; nothing too dangerous just to watch and observe what Elena Petrova was doing on a day to day basis. His name was Luke. He had a heavily pregnant wife who he had to support. Do you know what your brother did once he found out that Luke was spying on Elena? He left Luke and his wife in captivity for five days, before cutting open the woman's stomach making Luke watch before killing her. He then took his ti-"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Caroline cut Klaus off mid rant. "I refuse to believe any of this! My brothers are good, honest people. They would never do anything as barbaric as that! They would never kill without reason! Everything you've said tonight has been a lie!"

"Everything I've said tonight is true, love." Klaus said gritting his teeth. "I'm trying to show you that in this line of work there is no good and there is no bad. There is only grey. No side is good and no side is bad. In this world all people want is power. Your father and my father only care about power. They don't care about doing the right thing. And I don't know how many times I have to say this, but everything I've said about you, about us, is real. I think I'm falling in love with you Caroline Salvatore! And there's nothing I can do to stop it. Stop being so fucking stubborn and just give in to it."

Caroline stares at the floor, no longer wanting to stare him directly in the eyes. "I already have. I think I'm falling in love with you too Klaus Mikaelson." With that, Klaus pulled Caroline's chin up and kissed her passionately.

This kiss was the complete opposite of their first kiss that night. It was rough and desperate. Caroline couldn't get enough of him.

After what felt like seconds but in actual fact had been nearly five minutes, Klaus pulled back from the kiss and smiled down at her. Caroline started up at him, panting heavily. "I think you'd look so much better without all those clothes covering you, love." Klaus whispered seductively in her ear making the hairs on her arm stand up.

"We can't" Caroline said. "At least not here. We can't risk waking my parents up and having them find out about us." Klaus sighed.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right." Klaus put his hand into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a piece of paper with an address on it. Caroline raised her eyebrows.

"Why do you think that I'd be ok doing it at your house with your family listening in, when I wouldn't be ok doing it at my house with my family listening in?" There was no way in hell Caroline was going to be having sex with his siblings all under the same roof. Klaus just chuckled.

"This is the address to an apartment I rent on the other side of time. My family know nothing about it so no one will be able to barge in on us. We'll have complete privacy. When you're no longer under house arrest come over and we can finish what we started." Klaus smirked. Caroline began to nod before she froze.

"Wait. How did you know that I was under house arrest?" Caroline knew that she hadn't told him so the only way he would know was…

"Mikael has a spy, close to your father, working here. We know all about your house arrest." With that Klaus made his way over to her large glass doors and climbed onto the balcony before disappearing. Caroline rushed to her balcony to see him dart across her garden and into the woods that surrounded her house.

With a sigh, Caroline walked back into her room closing the doors behind her and removing the key.

xxx

The next day, Stefan banging on her door, telling her it was time to get up woke Caroline abruptly. Caroline groaned loudly and pulled her blanket over her head, refusing to face the day. "Care? Are you awake yet?" Stefan asked tentatively, through the door. He knew that she hated being woken early. In fact her whole family knew that she wasn't a morning person. And since Stefan was the second youngest of the family, he had been the one tasked with waking her up.

"Unfortunately" Caroline responded, sounding hoarse.

"Good. Father is sending your breakfast to your room this morning. Him, Damon and I have some important business to attend to this morning so it would just be easier if you had breakfast up here." Caroline rolled her eyes. This happened relatively often. Her father always had 'important business' to attend to and when he did, Caroline was confined to her bedroom.

"Ok, no problem." She heard Stefan linger by her door for a couple of seconds, before hearing his shoes clicking against the floor as he walked away.

Caroline didn't like that her brothers were hiding things from her. She had always wanted to be included in the family business, but her father had always refused to let her know anything remotely important. On a normal day she would have complained about not being involved but today she had more important things on her mind. The thing she had been hiding from her family; in a way her very own dirty little secret.

Caroline opened the box on her beside her on her bedside table where the previous night she had put Klaus's note with his address on and the key to her balcony doors.

She picked up the note and stared at it, weighing her options carefully. Option 1) Tear up the note and forget that last night, one of the best nights of her life, had never happened. Option 2) Keep the note but keep it in the box, to remind herself, when she was old a grey, about what could have been. Or option 3) Go to his apartment and see what happens.

Caroline knew that there was only one real option, and that was option 3.

xxx

Caroline arrived with her mother at the Lockwood mansion later that day, praying to God that Tyler wouldn't be there. Carol Lockwood had invited Caroline and her mother for brunch at the Lockwood mansion. At first, Caroline's father had been hesitant to send them, especially after what had happened at the ball, but soon he had realised that attending the brunch would be a good way of the Salvatore's and the Lockwood's getting closer, making an alliance much more likely.

The Lockwood mansion was unlike anything Caroline had ever seen before. From a distance the house looked grand and pleasant. It looked like something you'd see in a period drama on TV or in a film set in the eighteenth-century. But as Caroline got closer she could see that the house wasn't as nice as she had once thought.

The house had mould growing on it around the edges and was in desperate need of a good paint job.

Waiting for them outside was whom Caroline perceived to be Carol Lockwood. She was a tall woman with shoulder length brown hair and hazel eyes. Much like her own mother, Caroline could tell that Carol had been exceptionally pretty when she was younger. She looked perfect. Well, she would have looked perfect to an ordinary person. But Caroline wasn't an ordinary person. She had grown up with women like Carol Lockwood and knew how to look beneath what people wanted you to see. Beneath the make up and the falseness.

At a closer inspection of Carol's face, Caroline saw frown lines around the woman's mouth. Carol Lockwood also had flecks of purple under her eye, a clear indicator that the woman was either tired or stressed and was trying to cover it with make up.

"Hello. My name is Carol Lockwood. You must be Elizabeth Salvatore." Carol Lockwood said politely, a fake smile on her face. Her mother smiled back.

"Yes I am. And this is my daughter Caroline." Caroline nodded her head at Carol Lockwood, whose eyes seemed to light up once she was introduced.

"So you are the woman who may one day be my daughter in law. You know, Tyler couldn't stop talking about you after the ball. All I heard was Caroline this… and Caroline that… It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Carol gushed.

Caroline was doing all she could to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Instead she just smiled politely as she bit back her tongue. "He's not here is he? Tyler, I mean." Caroline asked, doing her best not to sound hopeful.

"No, he's not. He was going to come but was pulled away on business." Thank the Lord.

"Would you like to come through to the patio? All my other guests are waiting there." Carol asked. Elizabeth nodded her head and Carol Lockwood proceeded to lead them through the house and out into the garden.

As they walked through the double doors and onto the patio, Caroline could see that there were fifty women standing around talking in groups. It was a small gathering, the elite of the elite. Mothers, daughters and wives of Mafia Doms.

Caroline hated them all.

They were shallow, manipulative bitches that believed they were superior to everyone else on the planet simply because of their name. These women didn't care about anyone else but themselves and, sometimes, their own families, but then again that was how the Mafia had always been. The only good thing Caroline could say about them was that they were loyal as hell. None of them would break under pressure. None of them would betray their families.

Once the women realised who had walked onto the patio, they all fell silent. Once upon a time Caroline would have been embarrassed at fifty women staring at her but by now she was used to it. She was a Salvatore. They were the top dogs in the Mafia world. She was respected. Her family was feared.

Elizabeth raised her head and surveyed the women like they were cuts of meat. This may have been Carol Lockwood's house, Carol Lockwood's brunch, but it was her mother's kingdom, her mother's subjects.

This time Caroline couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. Today was going to be a long day.

Xxx

Luckily for Caroline the brunch was over before three. Just like her, her mother quickly became sick of the Mafia wives. After a couple of hours of mindless small talk, Elizabeth announced the she wasn't feeling very well and had their driver come pick them up.

Caroline thanked her lucky stars that she was finally allowed to leave brunch. Elena hadn't been able to attend, so Caroline had been stuck talking to Carol Lockwood. She was a nice enough woman, but all she wanted to talk about was Tyler and Caroline couldn't find the will to pretend to be interested any more.

Before, when Elena couldn't attend, Caroline would talk to Camille at these types of events. Camille could get on her nerves at times, but Caroline had always considered her one of her closest friends.

Her father often talked about Camille marrying Marcel like a betrayal, Caroline on the other hand saw it as an opportunity. It was an opportunity for Camille to escape her family. Camille had spoken to Caroline about her family before she married Marcel, and Caroline had to admit it was pretty bad. Camille had had less freedom then Caroline did.

And even though Caroline doubted that Camille loved Marcel, she loved that he could set her free.

xxx

The Salvatores sat down for dinner that night in the lavishly decorated dining room. William Salvatore was in a better mood than he had been in days. He was joking with Stefan and Damon and acting a lot like Caroline remembered from when she was little. After a week of everyone being on edge because of his mood swings, it was finally over. It was like a weight had been lifted of all of their shoulders.

"Father," Caroline spoke up "did you ever find out who let Mikael Mikaelson in to our house?" Caroline took a sip of her wine staring directly at her father. She wanted her house arrest to be over as soon as possible so she could go see Elena. And go see Klaus.

"Yes, yes we did." Bill said leaning back on his chair. "We had a traitor living in our house. Jonas Martin, our previous head of security, was working for the Mikaelsons." Stefan scoffed.

"Blackmailed more like. They're holding his daughter captive, he was protecting her." Stefan glared at their father. It was obvious that they'd had this discussion before.

"Doesn't matter. He's still a traitor and he'll be dealt with accordingly." Her father said, cutting off any further arguments Stefan may have had. Even though her father hadn't said it Caroline knew what would happen to Jonas Martin; he would be treated the same way all traitors were. He would be executed.

Caroline only hoped her father would be merciful and kill the poor man quickly.

"I've hired a new head of security. He's called Lorenzo and he's starting in three days time." William said finishing off his glass of wine.

"Wait. Does that mean that my house arrest is over?" Caroline asked, her voice full of hope. She was so sick of being confined to her house, only being allowed to leave when she had to make an appearance at a brunch somewhere. Her father seemed hesitant to answer before sighing heavily.

"Yes. The day after Enzo starts you can leave the house." Caroline frowned slightly before grinning widely. She needed to act like a spoilt brat if she wanted to get away with sneaking off to see Klaus Mikaelson. Her father needed to see her as nothing more than a blonde bimbo. She hated acting this way, but it would be worth it in the end.

"Thank you! I've got to text Elena so we can go shopping!" With that Caroline ran from the room up to her bedroom. She actually did have to call Elena so she could put her plan into action.

Caroline dialled Elena's number and sat on the end of her bed. After the third ring Elena picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey 'Lena, it's Care."

"Care, hey! I'm sorry I couldn't make it today, I was going to come but something came up-"

"Don't worry about it. You can make it up to me! My house arrest ends in four days time so I'm coming to yours and we'll talk then."

"Okay, no problem. But you have to tell me what this is about when you get here. I refuse to be kept in the dark about this, Caroline Salvatore! I mean it!"

"I promise I'll tell you when I'm at yours." Caroline hung up the phone and ran a hand through her hair. She couldn't tell Elena the full truth about Klaus just yet but Caroline didn't want to lie to her best friend. She'd try to keep it as close to the truth as possible.

Caroline walked over to her box and pulled out Klaus's address. She'd be seeing him again very soon. Tuesday would change everything.

Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, Caroline wasn't quite sure.

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**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please remember to leave a review! **


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